Ultimatum
by BoxingKing
Summary: After attempted suicide, Kagome becomes inexplicably involved with her cousin Yusuke and his team. Connected to Hiei, and pursued by Naraku, she’s swiftly moving towards an ultimatum no one is going to want to deal with.
1. Chapter 1

Crimson spread across the tiles, filling in the crevices, covering the stark whiteness surroundingher. Slowly, the pool grew wider, spreading farther and farther from her wrist. The bathroom was small and dimly lit, her actions unnoticed by any other.

Kagome smiled. Finally.

It had taken her a long while to gather enough nerve to go through with the task. The razor she had used was resting on its side, next to her head, exactly where it had fallen when she had collapsed.

Kagome just looked at it. She could see no accusation there. No guilt. No antagonism. No secrets or lies. It was just a razor, just a weapon that she had used. It was neutral. And right now, it was her best friend.

Kagome sighed again. It was nice to feel nothing.

She looked at the razor again.

She flashed on just why it was so imperative to take her life.

_Golden eyes. An accusation. Laughter._

No, it was much better to not deal with this fiasco.

Kagome passed out with a sad, small smile or her face.

Mrs. Higurashi sat in the hospital waiting room. She sat as still as a stone, not moving, and trying not to think.

Half of her family was at home, the other half sitting in an operating room, receiving immediate shock treatment.

No, Mrs. Higurashi was desperately trying not to think.

She couldn't seem to understand just why her daughter, her pure, innocent, vivacious daughter, would want to take her life.

She wasn't stupid, of course. She knew something bad had happened in the past, but Kagome had refused to talk about it. She kept insisting that everything was fine. So fine, in fact, that she would never have to go back.

Inuyasha hadn't yet come to see her. It had been almost three months since Kagome had come back, and there had been no sight of a raging hanyou trying to drag her daughter back to her 'duty'.

No, Mrs. Higurashi wasn't stupid at all.

She let out a big sigh. As of this moment, there was nothing she could do. She decided to offer the problem to those higher up.

Lethargically, Mrs. Higurashi dug in her oversized bag. She opened her cell phone that her children had insisted she have and called home. A simple measure of pressing #1 for speed dial.

Her father picked up, worry apparent in his voice. "How is she doing?"

Mrs. Higurashi sighed again. "They haven't really said anything. Her system went into shock, they had to do a blood transfusion. They are finishing up now. I should be able to go in and see her soon…" Mrs. Higurashi trailed off. Her mind was focused on simply seeing her daughter one more time, talking, smiling, breathing. That was her new wish.

Her father grunted on the other side. "Bring her back to us, daughter. Bring me back my granddaughter." He paused, and then whispered his goodbye and hung up.

Slowly, Mrs. Higurashi closed the cell phone. She sent up a prayer.

'Please God, let her be ok. Let her be alive. Let her breathe. Let me see grow old. Please…'

Finally, her prayers were answered.

"Mrs. Higurashi?" asked an attendant. "You may go to your daughter now."

Mrs. Higurashi started to cry.

­­­­

Yusuke swore. He grunted. He mumbled. He complained.

And all the while he packed.

He packed with a furor that he rarely put to anything besides fighting. Clothes flew across the room. Pants hit the edge of the suitcase; a few pairs of boxers flew over the edge and back onto the floor, shirts went sailing.

It was, essentially, a disaster.

"Stupid damn cousin…" he muttered. "Always doing stupid stuff… Always having to bail her out. Stupid Kagome."

He grunted as he dug to the bottom of his closet, scrounging into the darkest depths.

"Where is it…" he continued to mutter. "I know it's here somewhere."

Almost buried in trash, Yusuke finally found what he was looking for, and with a loud bellow he announced his triumph.

He then proceeded to toss a pink, cuddly teddy bear on top of the pyramid.

"Now," he breathed, "I'm ready to go help you, Kagome."


	2. Chapter 2

Giggles filled the air as two small children ran through the woods. Laughter was easy as they played tag together, neither one straying far from the clearing.

It was a simple game, tag. Yet it showed their friendship clearly enough. The little girl's hair whipped around as she twirled across the clearing, clutching a pink teddy bear. The boy would run after her, always slowing down right before he was to touch her.

The little girl laughed, a rich tinkle of childish delight. "Yusuke, you aren't trying hard enough!" She stopped twirling to stare seriously at the little boy. "You don't have to let me win, you know."

The little boy blushed. "Who was letting you?" he blustered. "Maybe you're just really fast."

She scoffed. A smile suddenly brightened her face. "Let's go by the river! Maybe we can see some fishies."

"Aw, Kags," whined Yusuke. "It's not like we can catch em."

Horrified, Kagome looked up at him. "I don't want to catch them! I just want to watch them."

Yusuke let out a very loud sigh. "Alright then. I suppose it wouldn't hurt."

She squealed in delight and they rushed to the river.

They were having such a grand time, splashing water at each other, trying unsuccessfully to see a fish, enjoying each other's company.

It was then that it happened. Kagome let go of her pink teddy bear, her most prized possession.

"Oh no!" she wailed! Yusuke looked over and saw the devastation on her face and instantly knew that he had to get that bear back for her.

"Don't worry, Kags. I'll get it for you. You can count on me!" And he began to run alongside the slow moving creek. He rushed ahead of the bear and waded into the water. In his hands he briskly caught the soggy bear.

"I caught it" he bellowed!

Kagome began to dance in happiness. "Yeah! My champion!"

Yusuke staggered back over to her. "I'll always be there for you, Kagome. Don't worry."

She smiled. "Thanks, Yusuke." And she gave him a childish kiss on the cheek.

The clearing rang with her laughter and his groans of boyish disgust, as the children resumed their play.

"Yusuke Urameshi! Stop and explain to me just what you are doing!"

"Geez, Botan. Chill out. And I've already told you, several times. I am going to visit my cousin. I will be gone for at least a week. Now go fly away and leave me in peace."

Yusuke Urameshi, local punk and bully, was walking down the street with a pack slung over his shoulder. Alongside him was a blue haired grim reaper having a panic attack.

"But Yusuke! Just what am I supposed to do without you? You are the captain of the team, for crying out loud. And you can't just go running off without any notice! We have a possible crossing of a demon with a large magnitude of power! Is the team just supposed to deal with that without you?" Botan was wringing her hands while she walked and practically shouted her problem at him.

Yusuke grunted. "Botan, we are getting weird looks from people walking by us. Either they are attracted by your blue hair, or the fact that you are shouting about demons. Tone it down, already." He stopped walking to look at her. "The team can take care of this themselves. It's not as if I'll be real far away. And it isn't even a confirmed sighting. Besides, this is more important."

And he kept walking.

Botan was near tears when she shouted at him as he walked away. "And just what am I supposed to tell Koenma?"

"Tell him whatever you want, Botan," he threw over his shoulder. "I know you'll come up with a good excuse for me. See ya in a week!" And he rounded the corner.

"Oh bother. I'm in for it now." And with a small _pop_, she disappeared.

Kagome's mother answered the door with relief.

"Hello, Yusuke. It is so good to see you."

"Hey, Aunty. How's she doing?"

Mrs. Higurashi sighed with a troubled frown on her features. "She's been practically comatose this past week. She won't talk and she hardly eats. She doesn't respond to anything. When she came back form the hospital, she said sorry once, and that was it."

Mrs. Higurashi wiped away sudden moisture at her eyes. "It was good of you to come, Yusuke. I know you two have grown slightly distant lately, but you were our last hope."

Yusuke was silent for a moment before responding. "Think nothing of it, Aunty. Here's hoping I can help."

She nodded, and gestured for him to come in the shrine. "Souta offered to share his bedroom with you. His is the second room on the right.

Yusuke nodded and went to find his bunkmate.

He was sitting in his room, playing a fighting game on the T.V. The room was filled with the jumpy background music and loud thuds from punches hitting their mark.

"Hey, Squirt."

Souta looked up and grinned. "Yusuke! I'm so glad that you are here!" He threw himself at Yusuke for a back-breaking hug.

"Do you wanna play with me? I have a second controller! The game is really fun, and I know you are always good at these things." Souta was trying to drag Yusuke over to the game while rapidly talking.

"Slow down, Squirt. Don't you think I should go see your sister?"

Souta quieted down. "Oh yeah." His face grew troubled. "I don't know what you can do, Yusuke. I've tried getting her to play games, and I've tried talking. I was even gonna through a bucket of water on her, but Mom said I shouldn't. She didn't think it would work and that we shouldn't needlessly get her wet…" He grew quiet for a moment. "We don't know what happened to her, Yusuke. She came back from visiting… this _guy_, and next thing you know she's hurting herself."

Yusuke looked down at Souta. "Do you know the name of this guy, Souta? Maybe it would help if I went and _talked_ to him."

Souta hesitated, and then quickly denied it. "None of us know who he is. I would have beaten him up if I could have, though, Yusuke! Just like you showed me! I wouldn't have let him hurt my sister like that!" Souta was getting angry – he would have defended his sister at all costs.

Yusuke put his hand on Souta's shoulder. "Calm down, Squirt. I'll go see what I can do then, hm?"

He walked off to Kagome's room. He opened the door and looked around. It hadn't changed much since he had been here last. The motif was pink flowers and the furniture was white. It seemed like it should be a room with a happy atmosphere. Instead it was threatening, choking it's occupant down one day at a time.

Yusuke finally looked at Kagome. His heart silently called out to her. She was curled in a small ball on her bed. She had withdrawn into herself, not caring about the rest of the world. She looked unkempt. He knew her mother dressed her, and combed her hair until it shined, but there was a certain lack of luster in her spirit. It pained him. Kagome used to be one of the most cheerful people he had known. She never had a mean thing to say to anyone. She had made his day when she would call and talk to him. She got him through some tough times when he was little, just like she had done to everyone else as well.

Well, now it was time to return the favor.

He walked into the room and began to talk to her. It wasn't anything important or disapproving. He just began to talk to her.

"I've missed you, Kags. Life is boring without your constant phone calls. I barely even go to school anymore. I have a girlfriend. You know her. It's Keiko. She sends her regards. She also says that she is doing her best on forcing me to go. She's almost as good at it as you are."

Kagome remained silent.

He walked over to the window and threw it open wide. "It's bright and sunny out today. The God Tree is standing tall today. It is just beginning to turn gold. The air is great, clean and fresh. I love opening windows and letting the air sift in. Kuwabara wishes that he could be here with you, but Shizuru won't let him miss school. He says that you need to come visit. Buyu is looking up at me. He must want some fish snacks. Remember how I was always getting him treats from the cupboard behind Grandpa's back? That must be why he's so fat now."

Yusuke went and sat on a chair by Kagome's desk. He continued his monologue for quite a while, filling Kagome in on all the recent news, telling her what she had been missing. Half of what he said didn't matter, but Yusuke knew he was getting across. He was letting Kagome know that life moved on, irregardless of her personal pain.

When the sun began to set, Yusuke finally stopped talking. He walked over to his bag and lifted out the pink teddy bear.

"I brought this for you, Kags. It probably still smells bad from the creek. It helped me get by when we moved away. I think that it will help you too." He set the bear down next to her on the bed.

"I think I am going to go get some food. My stomach's been grumbling for a good hour. I'll talk to you later Kags."

As he was leaving, Yusuke noticed an arm snake over and grab the teddy bear. He shut the door to the smell of salty tears.


	3. Chapter 3

**Ultimatum Ch. 3**

By Boxing King

Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei were all slowly walking down a deserted alley, eyes alert and scanning the immediate vicinity. Supposedly, this was where the demon crossing had occurred.

Kurama spoke up first breaking the silence. "Koenma said that a large power had breached the barrier. I see no evidence of that whatsoever. I don't even sense anything out of the ordinary…"

"Yeah," added Kuwabara, "Me neither. And usually I'm pretty good at sensing them."

"Hn. Most likely the fool made a mistake. Either nothing came through, or we are in the wrong area." Hiei's arm snaked out and threw a trashcan into a brick wall. "We are wasting time, Fox."

Kurama slowly nodded his consent. They had reached the end of the dark alley, and so far not a demon in sight.

Kuwabara sighed. "Let's go home. I'm beat as it is. I had to take care of a few interlopers at school today. Losers thought they could stake out our territory." Raising his hand in a nonchalant gesture, Kuwabara waved off the situation. "Koenma probably was just mistaken." Closing his eyes, he gave a dramatic turn. "It's happened bef- oomph!"

And he promptly bumped into someone.

"Hey, mister! You could at least watch where you're going!"

Kurama broke into his tirade. "You had your eyes closed, Kuwabara. Surely it is more your fault than his." Showing his good grace, Kurama stepped forward to graciously apologize. "Please forgive my friend, good sir. He is unnaturally clumsy." Holding out his hand in a goodwill gesture, Kurama waited.

The stranger turned his head and simply looked at the hand. He was dressed rather shabbily in a rumpled tan trench coat and large rimmed hat.

"N-now now, no reason to a-apologize. It – it was an a-accident." The man never looked at them during his stuttering assurance. Hiei and Kurama frowned. "N-now if you'll ex-excuse me. I – I must be going." The stranger promptly turned and tried to edge away.

"If I'm not mistaken, Fox, I'd say that that was a demon. And he looks to be getting away." Hiei was glaring with contempt at the figure trying to hug the shadows and run at the same time.

Kurama's frown grew fierce. Acting swiftly, he grabbed a trashcan lid and threw it at the retreating feet. He hit dead on. The demon toppled to the grown with an awkward squawk.

"Hey!" shouted Kuwabara. "Nice shot, Kurama! How did you guys know that was a demon? And where did he come from? I didn't sense him at all. In fact, I still can't sense him…" Kuwabara grew quiet as they all drew up to the trembling figure.

"We can't sense him either, Kuwabara. We know that he is a demon, however, by the fact that he has blue skin and nice, big claws." Kurama edged closer while responding to Kuwabara. "It's why he didn't want to shake my hand. And why he is dressed in such baggy clothes."

The demon struggled to sit up. Kurama leaned forward, putting his foot in the middle of the demon's chest. "Don't try it. And next time, word of advice, try wearing shoes."

Hiei decided to speak up. "What cloaking spell are you using, lowlife? How could we not sense you at all?"

The demon let out a snort. With a quick shake of his head, he removed his hat. Kuwabara gasped, Kurama ground his foot in.

His face was grotesque. He had at least seven eyes that darted all about, constantly assessing the situation. He had numerous bulging, pulsing skin pouches. As the detectives watched, they slowly began turning white. A few popped and pus spilled down the demon's face. There were no lips to cover the jagged shards that counted as teeth, stained with old blood.

He smiled horrifically. "Natural talent."

Hiei let out a guttural snarl. With blurring speed, he whipped his katana out and rested it at the demon's throat. "Try again." He lightly sliced a line across the demon's trembling throat. "And this time, tell the truth."

He snarled.

"An amulet. That's it. That's all I have."

Kurama narrowed his eyes. "Why are you here, vermin?"

The demon smiled again. "To take over the world." He began to laugh, the noise grating like nails on a chalkboard.

Hiei moved so swiftly no one caught the action. The demon was just suddenly missing his arm, blue-green blood spurting out onto the alley.

It screamed. "Damn you all to hell! This won't matter! It will still happen! He will still take over! N-"

Kurama jerked back as the demon began to choke. It whimpered a few last sounds, before turning puce colored. It's one good arm scratched at his throat, trying to free his airway.

The detectives watched in silence as the demon died. Blood slowly pooled around the still body.

"Koenma needs to hear of this," coolly stated Kuwabara.

"Indeed, he does. Indeed…" stated the Fox as the team slowly turned and headed out of the alley.

The Higurashi family was sitting around the dinner table, quietly talking about the day's events, when a startling event occurred. They were joined by their missing family member.

Kagome came downstairs slowly, not making a sound. She could hear her mother talking to her cousin. She knew she was the subject; she didn't care.

It had been a day since Yusuke had come to the shrine. It had taken her that long to think things through. Yusuke was right. Life did move on. And so must she.

And she knew the perfect way to do just that.

Mrs. Higurashi laid her hand on top of Yusuke's. "We can only hope that you were the key, Yusuke. Hopefully –"

"Kagome!" interrupted Souta. "You – you're downstairs. I – I can't –" He jumped up and ran to his sister. He threw is arms around her, hugging as tight as he could. He never wanted her to leave him again.

"Kagome," whispered Mrs. Higurashi. She half stood out of her chair. She put her hand to her heart. "You're up. I – I'm so happy." She lowered herself to sit with a small thump. Slowly, the tears began to fall.

"Me too, Mama," responded Kagome. She looked at each family member slowly, a smile lightly on her lips. She swung around to Yusuke last, letting her eyes linger.

"Thank you, Yusuke. For bringing me back."

Yusuke smirked. "No prob, Kags. You know I'll always be there for you."

She smiled. "I know."

Slowly pushing Souta's arms away, Kagome went to sit at the table. Mrs. Higurashi jumped up to serve the meal. She dumped food on the table randomly, all the while drying her eyes.

"My baby girl… My sweet little girl…"

Kagome cleared her throat. "I don't know about all of you, but I'm famished."

Quiet chuckles went around the table. The food was passed around as the family enjoyed being whole for the first time in a quite a long time. A warm glow enveloped the dining room.

Once every morsel had been consumer on her plate, Kagome decided it was time to act.

Clearing her throat, she began. "I know… I know I have been acting terribly lately. I…I can't tell you why, just yet. But I can tell you that I am through with – erm – that _guy_."

Mrs. Higurashi's happy sigh filled the kitchen. "I am so glad dear. It is long since time you were through with _him_."

Grandpa nodded his assent. "Good riddance, too. That _man_ was hardly worth your time."

Yusuke was getting the distinct feeling that he was missing something.

"Well, yes," started Kagome again. "Well, the thing is, I don't think I can stay here for while. There are too many memories of _him_, and well…" she hesitated. She hadn't even asked Yusuke yet. Kagome decided to rush it. "I want to go live with Yusuke for a while." She turned her wide-eyed face to Yusuke. "That-that is, if it's ok with you, Yusuke."

Everyone sat in stunned silence. Yusuke was the first to react. "Of course you can, Kags. If you can stand 'Aunty' that is."

Kagome smiled with relief. She turned hesitant eyes to her mother. Mrs. Higurashi was looking down at the table. She was clasping her hands together, knuckles white. Finally, she answered the unspoken question. "I think it would be a good idea, dear. It would get you away from all these visual reminders."

The tension visibly left the room. Kagome sighed in relief. It was settled then.

Souta jumped up, suddenly. "I don't want you to go again, Kagome!" He ran to his sister. Hiding his face in her lap, he mumbled, "I just got you back again."

Kagome stroked his hair. "I know, Souta. But I need to do this. I need to get over… _him_. I need to move away for a little bit. I'll be back. I promise I'll be back. I just need some time."

Souta shuddered slightly as he suppressed the tears. "Come back quick, Kagome."

She hugged him. "I will."

And so ended the last dinner that Kagome would have with her family for a very long time.


	4. Chapter 4

Ultimatum

Boxing King

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He was laughing! The bastard was laughing! Kagome couldn't believe it. How dare he laugh, after all that he had done, how dare he laugh? Kagome's eyes flashed a dark blue. Each cackle and screech made her blood boil. Each mocking glance made her more mad. And mad she was.

She was bloody furious.

How dare he do this to her?

Kagome whirled and lashed out, slinging her right arm forward as hard as she could. She smiled grimly as it headed for his laughing head. He would get what was coming for him.

Her hand went through glass, shattering the mirror. Kagome cried out as blood dripped down from the cuts. She yanked one vicious shard out from between her knuckles as he cackled in glee. With a grunt, she tried to put pressure on the large cut with her other hand, hanging onto the shard.

He bent over in laughter, having such a good time as he was. Kagome whirled to the left, looking at another likeness. She twisted again to the right, looking at another mirror.

"Kaagoooommee…" came the hissing voice. Kagome spun trying to find where that voice was coming from. "It's all your fault, Kaagooommee…"

She cried out when all she could find were laughing images. She went from one mirror to the next, trying to find what was different, what would make that one real. She needed to stop him, stop him from continuing the destruction.

She began to pant as her panic increased. Spinning in a circle of mirrors she began to feel horror overtake her.

She had to stop him. She had to.

_There!_ There it was! The sign that that mirror was real. The eyes were laced with gold, not completely red.

With a desperate cry, Kagome lunged forward, shard thrust out, ready to break the mirror.

Her hand went through, shattering the illusion. She gasped as the glass sank into flesh, into the middle of his chest. She froze in shock, looking at the very real body before her. Blood began to drip out around her hand, dripping to the floor, as he looked at her, disbelief and accusation in his eyes. Slowly, his body sagged to the floor, sliding off the shard of glass. With a solid thump he fell onto his back, silver hair spread around him, contrasting the red of his blood. Kagome shuddered back, stepping away from the corpse.

She had to escape. She had to get away from him. The mirrors kept laughing, wheezing her name in between chuckles.

"Good j-job, Kagome! You did it!"

Kagome whirled around, clutching the bloody shard in her hand, cutting her hand. The blood on the floor began to mingle as she kept twirling, trying to find a way out from the darkness and mirrors.

No… " No…" she whispered. She couldn't have – could she? She couldn't have killed him? No, this couldn't be the end. "No..." she strangled out again. She grew forceful, panic lacing her tone. "NO! This is unacceptable! This isn't real!"

"Good job, Kagome! You did it!"

"NO!" she screamed! "He's not dead!" Kagome kept spinning, looking for an exit. "No – he can't be dead," she strangled out.

Kagome began to cry.

"Three cheers for Kagome!"

She fell to her knees, putting her head in her hands.

"Hip, hip hurrah!"

She began to sob.

"Hip, hip hurrah!"

Blood pooled around her as the shard looked back at her. Golden eyes peered out at her. Why? they asked? Why?

"No!" she brokenly cried out.

"Hip, hip hurrah!"

"Inuyasha!" came her strangled cry.

-----------------

"Ok, this is it," stated Yusuke. He waved his hand forward, letting Kagome move first into the flat. It was a small place, two bedrooms and one bath.

She looked around slowly at her home away from home. Apparently, Aunty wasn't much for housekeeping. Kagome decided that that would be her first order of business. At least then she could say she earned her keep.

"Unfortunately," spoke Yusuke, filling the sudden silence, "we have to share my room. We have a cot set up in there for you. Mom said that she wouldn't allow it in the living room, so here it is."

Kagome looked at him and smiled. "It's perfect, Yusuke. I promise I won't be much of a bother."

Yusuke reached out and ruffled her wavy hair. "I already knew that." He stalked over to the first door on the left and walked in.

"I don't know what you really want to do. We can look the guys up, if you want. Your Mom already got you registered with the school, so you get to come with me tomorrow. She swayed the principle enough to get us in the same classes. I'm betting she either played the poor lost cousin card or the improve Yusuke's attendance card." He turned to look at her, dumping his bag at the foot of his bed. "Which do you think, Kags?"

Kagome looked up at him. "Obviously the improve Yusuke card. Who cares about a poor lost cousin?" she joked. "From what I hear you are quite the ditcher, Yusuke. We'll just have to fix that." She smiled impishly at him.

He dramatically groaned. "Just what I need, another Keiko." He grew quiet for a moment. "I'm glad you're here, Kags."

Kagome just looked at him, slowly nodding.

"Let's just hope it works out, neh?"

-----------------

Koenma was busy furiously sucking his pacifier as he considered what his detectives had reported to him.

Something had gotten through the barrier, and it apparently wasn't low class. It had assistance, either big or little, depending on whether they could track down the amulet. And something had killed the bugger, before the gang could interrogate it.

He finally sighed. What a headache. They had no idea who was behind the break through. Obviously someone who wanted to take over the world, but that list happened to be long. And they couldn't even identify the bloody amulet!

Koenma grunted. It couldn't even have been something simple, like a giant ruby encased in gold, or a piece of clothing – like the garish clothes the demon had been wearing. Something obvious. He resumed soothing his irritation with his pacifier.

The clock in the background was ticking as he waited for anything resembling a clue to fall into his lap.

Hopefully, the ogres would find something relevant soon. The clock kept ticking.

Koenma looked up at the clock, then down. He quickly looked up again, and down.

"Argh! I've had it with that blasted clock!" With a small bellow he picked up his stapler and threw it, hitting the offensive racket dead on. Silence.

"Take that!" he shouted!

Koenma crossed his arms and pouted. Now he had no way to know just how fast time was passing!

No matter, problem solved.

"OGRE!" called the little Prince. "Get in here and tell me what you've found!"

With a shudder the doors creaked open, and a blue ogre walked in.

"Sir, you could have waited until the appointed time, you know. It was supposed to be at 2:15…" his voice trailed off as he spied the beaten clock. "Ahem, yes, well. We have found the amulet." 

"You did? Excellent! Hand it over, immediately."

Ogre sighed. He would never change. From a back pocket he pulled out a little cloth bag. He reached over to Koenma, ready to offer up the amulet.

"Ha!" cried the Prince. In a rush, he dumped the contents of the purple velvet bag into his hand. "Let's see just what this demon was cooking up…" In stunned silence the Prince gazed down at his hand.

With a small scream, he threw up his hands and ran around the desk. "OGRE! How could you give me a spider? What an imbecile thing to do! Get rid of it! Get rid of it this instant! Quick, before it attacks!"

The ogre looked at Koenma, and slowly blinked. "Sir, that spider that you just lost is the amulet. Ahem…"

Koenma stilled. He dramatically pointed, "That hairy little bug was the amulet?"

"Well, it was…" pointed out George. "Now we have to find it again..."

He sighed. Koenma looked at his servant for a minute, and then started scooting towards the door. "Yes, well, I'll leave that to you, Ogre." And with that the little Prince turned and fled.

Ogre grunted on the floor. "The least you could have done was help, Koenma." He sighed and proceeded to crawl on the floor, combing it for anything remotely eight-legged.

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Ok, sorry this took so long to get, sorry this is short, sorry it is more like a filler in the end. My muse decided to leave me for a while, and only in procrastination did it come back. So here ya go. I will work on getting more and longer out in the future. Bear with me please. AND THANK YOU ALL FOR ALL THE WONDERFUL REVIEWS!


	5. Chapter 5

_**Ultimatum**_

_Chapter 5_

_Boxing King_

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I would first like to start this off by apologizing for the long delay. I got drawn into a writing slump that took a very long time to get out of. I also became somewhat busy with school, so my free time went to hobbies where I knew what I wanted to do. While I would love to write, I didn't know where to go. I recently decided I would like some more fanfare, so here I am trying to write. I would like to thank everyone for their reviews and support. Here is hoping you enjoy the next chapter. Let me know what you all think. I think, big keyword there, that I know how this (the story) is going to end, since I forgot the original ending like I usually do. Enjoy!

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The fire crackled quietly, small yet bright. It illuminated the faces around it with an orange glow. The demon exterminator was sitting next to the monk, the human girl cuddling the small demon kit, the half breed up in a tree. They sat in silence, relaxing in one of their rare moments of peace.

Kagome was at peace. She was with her second family, here saving the world. The love of her life was above her, watching out as he usually did. Her best friend was in love, and that joy was contagious. All was well. They were in a war, true, but they were together in good health, starting to gain momentum in their battle.

She leaned back into the tree, trying to get comfortable among the small pricks and branches that surrounded her. She rhythmically moved her hand back and forth across the kit sitting in her lap. He was sleeping softly, looking like an angel in her arms. His ears would twitch every couple of seconds and his tail was curl just slightly at the tip.

Kagome sighed. She heard Inuyasha shift above her and look down.

"You ok, Kagome?" he asked, voice quiet so not to disturb anyone else.

A soft smile graced her lips. "Yes, I am fine. I am happy." Kagome twisted her neck and looked up at him. His hair was shining orange in the firelight, his eyes all that brighter. They shared a secret smile.

Nothing could go wrong.

He jumped down and sat next to her. She leaned up to him, cuddling in close. She breathed deep his scent, taking comfort in his nearness. In the firelight, their hair mingled together, black upon black.

Nothing.

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Koenma leaned back in his overly large chair, gazing at the amulet. Ogre had carefully laid it on the desk far away from Koenma.

"Ok you two. You both know the most about this type of thing – give it to me and give it to me straight!" emphasized Koenma with a pound on the desk.

Kurama and Hiei simply looked at the toddler. "What is there to tell, Koenma? It's an amulet… in the shape of a spider… and it masked the demon's presence." Hiei stared as Kurama spoke. "What more are we supposed to gather from this?"

"Oh come on, Fox! Who uses spiders to do their bidding? You two have worked with enough demons to know who does what – this is a calling card, a trademark! You have to have something! Please…" Koenma turned big, watery eyes to his two detectives. "I," Ogre snorted, "_We_ have been through the entire library twice. There is not a trace of a demon that uses spiders in such a manner. Beyond the obvious bug demons, we are out of clues. In all of my years, no bug demon has ever gotten strong enough to provide an actual challenge. They are all rather dimwitted and quick to temper – they die easy enough."

Kurama leaned back into the wall, closing his eyes to think. As a thief he had never had much use for amulets like such – he was, of course, good enough to escape detection on his own. And he never bothered to travel to the human realm…

Hiei had continued to stare at Koenma throughout all of this. The little god was more interested in appealing to the brainiac fox anyways. He obviously didn't know enough about the crime world – both he and Kurama were good enough to not need anything so simple as an amulet. However, Hiei used to work with just about anyone, especially in his early days. He could remember one particular demon that was very fond of spider insignias.

"Koenma," voiced Hiei. "You have no idea who this amulet comes from, and you have no one else that can help you." Koenma straightened in his chair. Hiei's tone was a tad too condescending for the god's taste. In fact, it sounded like Hiei knew who the demon was…

"Just what is it worth to you to get the name of the demon?"

Koenma grew still, his frequently moving pacifier growing quiet. "Why do you ask, Hiei?" he finally responded.

"I want a favor from you."

Koenma pulled on his collar. "Well, Hiei, that is a bit much to ask, especially coming from you… I guess, what would you have of me? Only after I know that can I respond."

"I want nothing right now. I simply want a favor in my name – you will owe me. Whatever I ask."

"Within reason, of course," grunted Koenma.

Hiei's voice grew deep, his eyes slitty. "No, you will just owe me."

"Hiei…"

Kurama was avidly watching the exchange, a quiet glow in his eyes.

Hiei shifted, moving slightly. "I will give you time to think on it, Koenma. You know how to get a hold of me. Fox." And with a blur he was gone, leaving the room quiet behind him.

Koenma sank into his chair. "Kurama, is there any way you can find this out? My father will kill me if I end up owing Hiei a favor. That is a lot to ask!"

Kurama looked up, a small smile on his lips. "Of course, Koenma. But I fear that you may have to give into Hiei's demands. I know nothing of this, and many of my old sources will no longer talk to me."

Koenma sighed. "That is the best that I can ask, then." He leaned back to brood. Kurama bowed slightly and let himself out of the chambers, leaving behind a very stressed demi-god.

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Kagome began drumming her fingers on the table, tuning out the droning teacher. Behind her Yusuke was snoring softly. Kagome hated math – always had and always would. Apparently, so did Yusuke. He also seemed to hate English, and Geography, and pretty much every other subject. Poor guy just wasn't suited to school. He was more of a soldier type – let him duke it out with everyone and he would be peachy keen. Already Kagome knew he had a reputation at school.

She turned her head to look out the window on her left. A giant tree was blooming in the slight wind, rustling the leaves. It was a glorious day, too glorious to really be stuck inside. But what could you do?

She focused on one particular blossom, open earlier than the others. It was beautiful, richly pink and she supposed velvety soft. She let her mind drift back to earlier days with friends and a more natural landscape. She smiled slightly, remembering one day with flowers and peanut butter. Shippo had had them stuck all over his fur!

She had loved the past, with all the clean air and open spaces. Sure, there had been demons all over, and a war to be fought, but it still seemed better back then. Unlike now, where there was not a bit of all three.

Kagome let out a big sigh.

"Excuse me, Higurashi, but if I am boring you that much, you can just leave."

Kagome jerked and looked guiltily at her teacher. "Uh no, sir. I'm just, erm, tired."

The teacher snorted and turned back to the board. "And wake up Urameshi behind you. That lunk could use some learning."

Kagome rolled her eyes. As if this held any importance to anything. She turned in her seat to face Yusuke. She gently kicked his shin, watching as he snorted awake.

"Aw, gardammit, Kagome, what the hell are you waking me up fer?" He let out a big yawn.

"Because, Mr. Urameshi, I told her to," responded the teacher. As if his class could get any worse!

Kagome was silently giggling, hiding it behind her hand when the lights flickered in the classroom. With a frown, she looked up at the lights.

They flickered again, and then died. The teacher huffed in front of the classroom. "Well I never! This whole school is going downhill!"

Yusuke slowly looked around the classroom. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a flicker in the tree. He frowned and focused on the tree. Slowly an image took place, a small black demon twisting waves around it to hide its image.

Ah hell, thought Yusuke. Here he is supposed to be entertaining his cousin, and on the first bloody day there's an interruption. How was he gonna keep this from her?

Well duh, play the ditcher card.

Yusuke stood up and faked a yawn (real as it had been a moment ago…). "Well teach, I guess this means class is over." He proceeded to put his hands up above his head and strut out of the classroom. "See ya tomorrow!"

The teacher stood in front of the classroom dumbfounded. Kagome leaned back in her chair and laughed out right. How she wished she could join him! Oh well…

While the teacher was sputtering in front of the class, Kagome slouched and looked out at the tree once again.

It was then that she saw it, or it saw her. Its beady yellow eyes were focused right on her. The hairs on the back of her neck raised up, and goosebumps colored her flesh. Kagome studiously pretended not to notice the demon, letting her eyes slide over it onto the next blossom. She was done with all of that here – and what was she supposed to do anyways? She could hardly go outside and confront it. And it didn't seem to be doing anything…

She casually turned her head towards the front of the classroom. The teacher had restarted the lesson, continuing to scribble on the board. Kagome could feel its eyes boring into her. She was just about to sneak another look when the computer on the teacher's desk began letting out an annoying squeak. Sparks began shooting out the back as the teacher started hopping around his podium.

Kagome started to stand just as a random spark landed on a pile of quizzes. The fire was instantaneous, and a blaze began feeding on all of the material haphazardly piled on the table.

The pandemonium was instant. People began screaming while running for the doors.

Kagome let out a snarl, trying not to be dragged along with the students. It was just like a bloody stampede! Helplessly she was shoveled outside and away from the school. In the distance she could hear sirens making a racket.

What the hell was the fire drill? Was she supposed to go somewhere? Kagome finally just moved with the crowd. People were flowing into the streets and fields around the school, so she chose to go into the fields. Students were slowly dispersing into groups as a fire grew prominent out one of the school windows. Frowning, she sought out the tree that the demon had been sitting on. Had it been involved somehow in the fires?

Her search was fruitless – the demon was long gone. Kagome let out the breath she had been holding. Hopefully the two events weren't even related.

At this point, she might as well just go home. Kagome turned and started heading towards Yusuke's apartment. The streets were pretty empty, everyone now standing in front of the school to watch the fireworks. She turned and cut through an alley, hoping to avoid being noticed leaving the scene – she figured most student's were ditching anyways, and the teacher's wouldn't be able to do an accurate count. So hopefully, this wouldn't come back and haunt her tomorrow.

Maybe she would meet Yusuke – he had ditched first anyways. Perhaps he was at the arcade. Kagome was just considering whether to turn around and head the way of the arcade when she felt it again. Lifting her head, Kagome looked up at the rooftops lining the alleyway.

It was looking at her, mouth open and grinning happily. Her eyes drifted to the left – there was another one, hunched over and rocking on the balls of it's feet. To the right she saw a third. Apparently the fire and the demon had been connected. They all looked so damn happy, too.

And why shouldn't they? They had just found their prey. And she had no idea how to get out of this mess.

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	6. Chapter 6

_**Ultimatum**_

_Chapter 6_

_Boxing King_

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Ok, procrastination brought about this chapter. I've already gotten reviews, so I am inspired! Woot! Read, Enjoy, and again let me know by Reviewing! Oh, if anyone has questions please state them in reviews – I might answer. :D

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Yusuke had almost been at the tree when the fire alarm had gone off. He had known instinctively that they had been connected. His suspicions has been confirmed when he had gotten to the tree and the demon was gone.

With a snarl he slammed his fist into the tree, digging in a nice little hole. Ok, Yusuke, keep it together in public. Deep breaths, just like Keiko taught me.

For a few moments, Yusuke just sat and calmed down, taking deep breaths. Being extremely new to the practice, it didn't really help him.

"Oh screw this." And he furiously dug around his pockets for his communicator. With a tiny bleep Yusuke was connected straight to Koenma's big tv. He peered down at the toddler coloring in a coloring book.

"Yo Toddler! We got an emergency here – where the hell were you?" At Yusuke's shout, Koenma let out a very loud gak and toppled out of the chair.

"Damnit, Yusuke – you need to learn how to announce yourself." With an attempt at courtliness, he straightened his clothes and dusted off a few smidges of dirt. "Now," with a look at Yusuke, "just what is the problem?"

Yusuke let out a snort. "There was a demon sighting at school. Except now it's gone, and the school is on fire. I need to you find it's energy so I can go get rid of it before the entire school goes down. Fire probably isn't going to be much help against this particular type of fire. Now, while I would love to have the school burn down myself, I happen to know that Keiko would take grave offense…"

"Alright Yusuke, give me a minute." Koenma waddled over to a computer on his wall and began pushing buttons. Yusuke was done impatiently waiting, and was just about to snarl out a question when Koenma spoke.

"We have a serious problem. I have no idea why these weren't detected earlier, but there are a shitload of demon energies all over the city. I have no idea which one was yours – they are all of about the same low-level demon. You need to get Kuwabara and start getting rid of them." Yusuke began swearing in the background.

A fax machine began whizzing in the corning, papers flying out in a stream. Koenma gravely regarded the little machine. "From the looks of things they are already causing havoc. Those are attacks. We'll start with what's closest to you. Go three streets down from the school and go left – there are three there. I'll get Kurama and Hiei on the ones farther out."

"Fine. This better not take all day, Toddler. I've got other engagements." Yusuke was just about to hang up the communicator when Koenma spoke.

"Don't underestimate them, Yusuke. They escaped detection from the best machine in the three worlds. Most likely they are from our little friend."

Yusuke grunted and clicked close the communicator.

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Keiko was wracking the field, trying to find all the students that had been in her class. The teacher had given her a clipboard and told her to start calling names. Keiko gave in inelegant snort at the memory. As if half the class hadn't already ditched. So far, she had six names of twenty-three. She sighed and simply checked off four more – she had seen them walking towards the arcade, so they were at least not somewhere in school.

Looking up, Keiko tried to find an area she hadn't already been through. She spied a nearby alley and figured maybe she could find some students there.

Walking over, Keiko never noticed the demon trailing her along the rooftops. She moved further into the shadows, heedless of the coming danger.

Keiko walked around the final corner, coming to the end of the alley. She put her hands on her hips. Not a single student in sight! She wondered where they had all gotten to.

"I guess the professor will just have to accept what I have… This is useless anyways. We will never find all the students…"

Keiko turned around, fully prepared to go back to the field and try some more when she felt a small shock hit her neck. A sharp cackle filled the alleyway. It was the last thing she remembered before the world dimmed and went black.

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Kagome slowly crouched down into a fighting stance, putting her back against the wall. The three demons spread out and surrounded her, blocking off any escape.

Kagome licked her dry lips. She kept her voice steady as she gazed at the demons. "What do you want with me? Why are you here?"

In answer they cackled, raising the hairs on the back of her neck. It was an evil cackle, sharp and grating, like nails going down a chalkboard.

The tension grew in the small alley as her fear spiked. It was so strong that she could feel it crackling between them.

Kagome frowned, narrowing her eyes as she saw a tiny spark flare between two of the demons. Another one snapped out, bigger than the last. She swore as a third came and went. It wasn't tension, it was electricity! There was no way she could fight against them, now.

She figured her best bet was to try and reason with them.

"What do you want?"

They cackled together, shrieking out noise.

"You," replied one. "YOU!" shouted another. "You, you, you, you," chanted the third. Together they kept speaking, going faster and faster, getting louder and louder.

Kagome shrank back into the wall. With a cry she covered her ears, trying to stop the horrendous roundelay.

The electricity was getting bigger, making bigger flashes that lit the alley. The air was positively sizzling, as Kagome's hair slowly began to levitate.

The demons began firing at the wall. They struck above her shoulder, outside her legs, next to her head. With each strike Kagome cried out, exciting the demons.

She was trembling in fear and anger. She was just sitting there! Yet, if she tried to move, to run, to fight, to do something besides shake, it was as if she was paralyzed. Her muscles wouldn't respond.

She hadn't faced any demons since she had left the past. Since she had left everyone. Since Inuyasha.

She had failed last time. She couldn't do it again. She couldn't move. She began to cry, tears seeping down her face.

The demons moved in.

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Hiei let out a snarl as he jerked back to Kurama to regroup. These damn bastards were tricky.

Kurama kept flicking his wrist, moving the rose whip back and forth, keeping the demons at bay. Their cackling was filling the clearing that they were situated in.

"It's no good, Hiei. They just keep coming. Somehow they're multiplying."

Hiei grunted. "My sword just keeps passing through them. I can't seem to land a hit."

"I think they are made out of electricity. It's how they get their shocks and sparks, and why they have a slightly incorporeal form. My rose whip does nothing more than keep them at bay."

Hiei frowned. He reached up and tore off his bandana, letting his Jagan eye out. He focused on one of the demons, preparing a spark in it's hand. He let the power build in his mind, feeling the pressure pounding on the third eye. He narrowed his eyesight to just that demon. With a smirk of satisfaction he let the energy flow into the demon. With a mini explosion the demon blew up. Sparks and chunks of demon flew around Hiei and Kurama, smoke filtering up into the air.

Kurama paused as the shocked demons drew back in momentary fear. "Well, that worked well. What did you do?"

"I built energy and forced it into the demon. He overflowed and his body couldn't take it."

"Can you do that on a more massive scale?"

Hiei frowned. "I don't know. I'm worried I'll bring out the dragon."

Kurama paused for a moment, and then spoke carefully. "We need you to try, Hiei – or we won't be making it out of this clearing."

Hiei glared at Kurama. "I think I know that. Just give me a moment. Keep them at bay. I think when they realize what I am doing they will try and rush me."

Kurama nodded, starting up his rose whip again. With a few flicks of his wrists, he tossed some seeds onto the ground. Within seconds they had sprouted, and living vines began twitching in the air.

Hiei sat crosslegged, clearing his mind. With a thought he began building power. As more and more came in, sweat began to roll down his face. The demons, sensing what was going on, rushed him, trying to stop the attack.

Kurama began swinging in earnest, doing his best to keep the demons back. The vines were whipping in a frenzy, chopping through demons.

Hiei's power reached an enormous level – equal to what he usually used to call the dragon. He figured that was enough.

He opened his eyes, glowing violet. He focused as a whole on the demons in the clearing – pinpointing each one while seeing them as a whole. With a jerk he let loose the energy into the clearing.

Kurama let out a shout as was forced back from Hiei. A wind began ripping through the clearing, shaking the grass and trees. Kurama struggled to reach Hiei sitting at the calm of the storm. The wind began to speed up, swirling as fast as a tornado.

Kurama was just about to touch Hiei when a small pop occurred and the energy rocketed into each of the demons, causing the clearing to shake from the explosions.

Hiei slumped over, fainting from exhaustion. Kurama crawled over to him and looked around the clearing in amazement. So much power… He shook his head. Koenma was very lucky to have Hiei on his side. On that note, it might be best if he made sure Koenma never gave Hiei that favor. The repercussions might just be too big to recover from.

He grunted and popped open his communicator, ready to call Boton for a portal to the spirit world. Hopefully, that was it for the demons.

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	7. Chapter 7

_**Ultimatum**_

_Chapter 7_

_Boxing King_

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Ok, we'll see how fast this one gets out. I got a review saying my chapters were short. I thought I was doing pretty good, especially trying (key word!) to update fast. I generally get a chapter out once I start writing in two days. Anyways, I'll try and add more to this, so it might take longer to get out. I was cowed with my page amount when I read another fanfic that had chapters that were each more than 50 pages each. Mine definitely won't be that big, but I will strive to do better than five. So here ya go – read and enjoy, and pretty please review. It is an author's food source. Update one – it has been at least a week since I have started writing. Guess who forgot where she was trying to go again. And, in case (likely!) no one reads my bio, I started a blog, on and I was hoping someone could go on there and tell me if it works. It should be under something like BoxingKing-WordsofWisdomonWriting.

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Yusuke rounded another corner trying to find Kuwabara. That damn idiot had hightailed it, apparently. And Yusuke was running out of places to look for him. At this point, the demons would be wreaking havoc on humanity with free reign. Damn Kuwabara.

He stopped running suddenly and smacked his head. Kuwabara had a communicator, too. Duh.

He swiftly clicked his open and got a hold of Kuwabara. He could hear him fumbling with the small pocket gizmo, struggling to get it open and right side up.

"Yo, Urameshi, what is it? This better be good, cause I got me a fight lined up with–"

"Shut it, idiot. Listen, we have a demon rampage going on all over city, and we need to start getting rid of them, now."

"How the hell did that happen? Why didn't Koenma contact me?" Kuwabara was surprised and irate at the same time. Demons never failed in sucky timing.

"They didn't show up on the radar. Now where the hell are you?"

Yusuke could hear Kuwabara swearing and looking around, trying to find a streetsign. Finally, he just said he was in front of a bagel shop down from the school.

"Idiot. Just get over to me at the school, right in front. We need to hurry!"

With that he clicked close the communicator and jogged over to the school. Hopefully, Kuwabara wouldn't take long. A congregation of three monsters in one spot could only be a bad thing.

Looking into the crowd, he saw a tall, orange head bobbing towards him. Yusuke grunted in relief.

"YO, KUWABARA, OVER HERE!" bellowed Yusuke.

"Yusuke Urameshi! Where have you been? We have been doing check-ins for the last hour, and you have conveniently not been on any of those lists. It is time to come back to school." The principle was fast approaching on Yusuke, determined to bring him back from the edge of delinquency. "And you, too, Kuwabara."

Yusuke swore under his breath. Of all the times the principle had to see him, it had to be now. "Nice try, old man! But we have another appointment. Come on Kuwabara, let's go!"

The principle stopped walking as Yusuke and Kuwabara took off. "I'll see that you both have detention. See if I don't!" He shook and head and moved off to finish the checklists, muttering. "Damn kids…"

Meanwhile, Yusuke and Kuwabara were heading to location one, designated the worst demon congregation of the lot. They kept a fast jog going while Yusuke debriefed Kuwabara.

"At least one of them started the fire at the school. I went out to investigate and it was gone. I call Koenma and he suddenly finds out that there are a shitload of demons in the city from out of nowhere. He figures that they are from our little friend, since they escaped attention. I think they are either made from or using electricity. The one I saw was blending in with the tree pretty well, albeit a few sparks here and there."

Kuwabara grunted. "How do we kill 'em?"

"Not a clue. I haven't met one yet, and Kurama and Hiei are still out somewhere getting the ones not close to school."

They grew quite, nearing the alley. "Man," muttered Yusuke, "This is coming at the worst time. I'm supposed to be with my cousin right now." They rounded the alley corner.

Yusuke and Kuwabara stopped running, trying to assess the situation. There were six demons huddling in one corner, and from the crying that they could hear, one hostage.

"Shit, Urameshi, all they're doing is torturing her. Poor girl must be freaked beyond belief. What do we do?"

"Ah hell, I don't know. I can't fire my gun – I'll hit her. I'll distract them, you use your sword, and I'll get the girl out."

Kuwabara nodded solemnly. He could do that. With a thought he pushed energy out of his hand and created a pulsing orange sword.

"Let's do it, Urameshi. Let's save the world."

Silently shaking his head, Yusuke drew in a deep breath and prepared to announce himself.

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Kurama and Hiei tumbled into Koenma's office, Hiei still out cold. Botan ran over to check on Hiei.

"As far as I can tell, he just fainted from the energy buildup. Hopefully he'll wake up soon." She was wringing her hands in nervousness. Hiei very rarely came in needing healing. She figured it must have been an enormous amount of power, which kind of freaked her out. Hiei was always so gruff with her, well with everyone, and it kind of affected how she viewed him. Pretty much, she thought he was a violent jerk of a demon that carried a very big threat that he was not afraid to use. It was such a shame, too. She loved dark, mysterious men, and Hiei was definitely a hottie, oh yes he was.

Botan shifted Hiei over, making him more comfortable. The little demon probably wouldn't appreciate her making such a fuss, so a pillow and blanket were out. Oh well, now she could at least hear what had happened. She sat next to Hiei, making herself more comfortable.

"Ok Kurama," started Koenma. "What happened? Why is Hiei out cold? The last I knew the computer was telling me that there was a massive amount of demons congregating where you two were fighting. How did you get out of that?"

Kurama shook his head. "We almost didn't. Neither Hiei's sword nor my rose whip had any more affect than moving through the demons. They had incorporeal forms, somewhat, so the most we could do was push them back. I have no idea where they came from – whether they multiplied or just came running."

He sat down and stretched his arms over his head. He was exhausted. He was getting lazy – one defensive battle involving nothing more than covering Hiei should not have wiped him out. That must mean it was time to pick up training with Yusuke and Hiei again. Well damn, he thought, there goes that manicure. He let out a big sigh.

"Hiei actually defeated them all – it's why he is unconscious now. He discovered that shoving more energy into the demons made them explode, so he did that on a major scale and caused all the demons to combust at once. It actually seemed that he had called the dragon at first, what with all of the whipping wind and power. It was a stroke of luck that it wasn't the demon, and that it worked."

Botan and Koenma sat digesting this. "That means that Yusuke and Kuwabara aren't going to have an easy time of it, either. And they can't do what Hiei did. Hopefully their spirit weapons will help." Koenma was only slightly concerned. They didn't need the equivalent of a gun going off right next to a school.

He moved to look at the big computer, trying to get a current read out of demon locations.

He clicked a few keys and frowned. "There are only a few left, all around the school. They seem to all be moving to one spot again. They want something. They have a goal in being here. What could it be…?"

Kurama moved up to the screen. "We have no idea why they are here. Or what they want. Or even how they escaped detection from you. Electrical demons are some of the hardest to fight in an urban setting – they can just leech off of their surroundings and get power. Someone knew what they were doing when they sent them. There is no way they were not created and sent on purpose. We are dealing with someone very powerful if they can manage to create the amount of demons that they did."

Koenma remained silent, viciously sucking his pacifier. "We have found nothing on who this is. Have you, Kurama?"

His silence was answer enough.

"This is a new development. I know of no demon that uses both bugs and electricity. The two don't naturally mix. I'm afraid that I might have to give into Hiei's wishes. Obviously our foe is moving forward with his plan. If he succeeds in getting whatever he wants, we have no choice."

Kurama continued to stare at the screen. It seemed as if they knew what they wanted, and two spirit detectives weren't going to keep them from getting it.

"Botan, open me a portal to that alley."

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Kagome cringed as far back into the wall as she could go, the rough sensation of the brick scratching exposed skin. The alley was dim, any light and life sucked out by the demons. Kagome knew there was no one near by. How could there be? The demons seemed to exude a personality that made people falter in their steps near the alley, a chill going down their spines. Who was going to come and save her? To the rest of the world, demons didn't even exist, let alone try and terrify some stuck girl in a back alley. There was no one to save her, just like there hadn't been in the past.

The demons began to lean into her, hands reaching. She figured that if they managed to touch her, she wasn't going to be making an escape. The electricity they were handling would definitely have some effect on her. It would be her end.

Something inside of Kagome changed. She had had no one in the past to come and save her – Inuyasha and the others being just as captive as she. Last time, she had made a mistake in trying to handle things on her own. It had been no secret that she was not a fighter, that she was not trained in magic, and that she was soft in the way that someone who had no lived their life fighting was. Naraku had easily set her up to fail.

But things were different now. Then, others had depended on her to come and save them. Now, no one depended on her at all. It was just her, in an alley, surrounded by demons. If she failed, no one else would suffer, no one else would die, it would just be her.

Kagome figured she could take the risk.

She closed her eyes, preparing to draw on that one part of herself she had completely closed down since coming home. She was going to perform magic.

Her body relaxed, losing the stiffness inspired from fear. She stopped pressing back on the alley wall, and it seemed to her that the world brightened just a bit from the gloom that it had been forced into. She was ready.

She released her priestess powers just as the demon grabbed her upper arm.

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"YO, ASSHOLES, JUST WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" bellowed Yusuke. Sure enough, that grabbed the demons' attention. Two of them were shocked enough that anyone else had approached that they stood up from their stopped positions, revealing just who the demons had in their clutches.

Yusuke drew up short. "Kagome…" he whispered.

Kuwabara smirked and began to run at the demons surrounded the girl. In the back of his mind he registered that Urameshi had stopped running, but he knew that he couldn't stop for him. They were here to save the girl, and for whatever reason he had stopped, he could not do the same.

Kuwabara ran at the two demons that had stepped back from the girl. At Urameshi's shout they had stopped what they were doing, but it looked as if they were ready to pick back up from where they left off.

With a bellow he threw himself at the first demon. He swung his sword in a downward thrust, aimed at it's neck. The demon smirked and moved to the left, dodging the sword. It reached forward with it's left hand to grab Kuwabara and began building an energy ball in it's right. Kuwabara threw himself back a step at the last second, seeing the incoming attack. His sword was still off to the right, leaving his entire side open for the energy bomb.

He threw himself backwards, rolling as he hit the ground. The demon's second attack harmlessly hit the wall, leaving a large singe mark. The demon warily turned to face Kuwabara, sword at the ready.

It held out it's hands wide, letting a grin come up it's face. In each hand an energy ball slowly began to build. Apparently, it took longer to create two at once. Kuwabara took this chance to act.

He lunged forward with a cry and viciously decapitated the electric demon, it's smirk still wide on it's face. The head fell to the ground and began to roll. Kuwabara watched with satisfaction. He saw the head begin to dissolve and turned to look at the body. Taking in what he saw Kuwabara's eyes widened just before the two bombs exploded, bigger than they had been from the addition of the head and body.

He was thrown back, hitting the wall with a sickening crack. He slid to the ground, sword reabsorbed, unconscious to what was going on around him.

Meanwhile, Yusuke had recovered from his shock at seeing his cousin sitting there. He had been about to rush forward to aid Kuwabara and finish their plan when his path was blocked by two more demons.

"Shit," swore Yusuke softly. They had successfully separated him and Kuwabara. "Stupid. If only I hadn't hesitated. But then we would have been surrounded."

With a snarl, Yusuke threw himself at the two demons, prepared to beat the shit out of them.

He lunged at the demon on the left, slinging his right arm forward. To his surprise and dismay it went through the demon. The demon's cackle filled Yusuke's head, as he stumbled and almost went down from his own momentum.

Being used to street fighting, Yusuke pulled his weight to the right and swung around, facing the two demons. He narrowed his eyes, taking closer stock of the two. He could see a slight shimmer as their bodies coalesced and broke apart repeatedly. Apparently, normal punches wouldn't work on these guys.

Yusuke began to run at the other one. Maybe if he infused his punch with energy, the demons would be able to take the hit. He jumped up, adding force to his punch, and let energy fill his entire hand. It glowed blue as he slammed down into the demon.

There was a sickening squelching noise as the demon was squished into the cement. Yusuke smirked, best as always. He stepped back to see if the demon was going to be able to recover form his hit.

The jolt and additional weight came as a surprise to him. The second demon, seeing his distraction, had jumped on his back infused with electricity, transferring the energy to Yusuke.

Yusuke felt on fire as his entire body began to jerk spasmodically. He let out a scream of pain and threw himself to the ground, trying to get the demon off of him. The demon jumped off at the last second, letting the detective throw himself into the ground. Yusuke banged his forehead into the cement, nearly knocking himself unconscious.

He swore incoherently, struggling to get past the pain that had diminished slightly once the demon was gone. He had to take these demons down, the fight depended on it. If he let them get past him, then Kuwabara was gone. And Kagome would be at the mercy of demons.

The though invigorated him, lending new strength to his tired and pain-filled body. There were people counting on him, and he would be damned if he let them down.

Yusuke began to scream with fury and launched himself up. It took him only a second to locate the demon and launch himself at it. This time, rather then letting just his hand fill with energy, he let his whole body blaze. He let his whole body fight, using feet and hands interchangeably.

The demon didn't stand a chance. It was ripped apart in moments, bit of remains flying across the alley to fade away.

Yusuke stood hunched over and panting, trying to take in the situation of the alley. Kuwabara was lying still against a wall at one end of the alley, Kagome was at the other. The last demon in the alley was moving towards her, hands extended, scrabbling to grab a piece of her, any piece. It probably had a portal that it could call up.

He tried to hobble forward to aid her, but he had used up his last reserves taking down the demon. He wasn't going to be able to reach her in time.

Above the alley, blue lights began to coalesce into a portal, forming a vortex between Kuwabara and Kagome. Kurama dropped down on his feet, falling onto one hand. He stood up quickly. With nimble fingers he tossed a seed in the direction of Kagome. It landed in front of her and quickly sprouted.

Kurama turned to Yusuke. "Hurry, Yusuke. Get Kuwabara and get to the portal. I will grab the girl. We must escape. Others are on their way, and will be here soon. We do not have the proper tools to fight them."

Yusuke grunted and moved towards his fallen friend.

Kurama turned towards the remaining demon in the alley. It was struggling against the plant that was keeping it away from Kagome. The plant was a particularly viney individual, and it was continually wrapping it's waving appendages around the demon, halting it for a few seconds from reaching it's goal. Kurama moved forward swiftly. He went behind the plant and scooped up the girl.

Kagome didn't move at all, but Kurama didn't have time to check her vitals. They had to leave, now. He went over to the portal where Yusuke was already standing with Kuwabara slung over his back. The portal began to glow anew, preparing to suck up the group. Kurama cast one last quick look around the alley. Three more demons dropped down from the rooftops, lunging at them.

They left in the knick of time, the demons sliding through where they had been standing. Their frustrated howls followed Kurama and Yusuke back to the Spirit Realm.

They were dumped in an unceremonious heap in front of Koenma. Yusuke staggered and fell over from the jolt of landing and the additional weight. Kurama landed more decorously next to Hiei.

He laid Kagome down on the floor, next to the prone Hiei, where they remained side by side as the rest of the occupants began to avidly discuss what had happened. No one noticed when the Jagan eye flared briefly, glowing purple, and then went dormant.

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OK, I finally updated! This took freaking forever to get out! I could have written more – I have the next part in my head planned out, but I'm tired and I was just so eager for a post! I wasn't going to leave a cliffie, and then I had an idea and I wrote a small one anyways. So there ya go. This is three pages longer than my last one, so enjoy. I will try for more length in the future. Please read and review, let me know what you think. All advice is appreciated. Also, PLEASE look at my blog so that I know people can look at it. I really, really want to be like other authors and have a blog, so hopefully this works. If it doesn't, I'll have to find a way to get one to work. I don't know when I'll be able to update again, but as always reviews help. Thanks! BoxingKing


	8. Chapter 8

_**Ultimatum**_

_Chapter 8_

_Boxing King_

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This time I got a review saying that I shouldn't rush things, or make my chapters longer than usual. However, the reviewer also mentioned that there were several mistakes in my last chapter. First, thanks for your review. I appreciate the time and effort. Second, I would have emailed you if I could, but I didn't see a way to do that, so I was wondering if you wouldn't mind leaving another review and telling me what I did wrong so I know not to do it again. Looking back at my work so far, it seems to change each chapter. Anyways, constructive criticism is welcome. Also, if any of you decide to go look at my blog, I say the main pairing. I guess I thought it was obvious, but I'm writing, so duh. I got another review asking, so feel free and look. However, at the end of this chapter it will probably be spoiled anyways. I should have thought of that ploy earlier.  Enjoy the chapter. I'm going to try and revert to an earlier stage of writing, where it sounded more worked out and sophisticated.

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Kagome slowly moved closer, swaying her hips to music only she could hear. Wild drums hammered in the background, beating a frantic beat in tandem with her heart. Each bang of the drum was a vicious jump of her heart, pulsing blood to her head in a rush that left her dizzy.

She had never felt like this before.

She raised her eyes slowly, lifting them to meet a ruby pair staring across at her. It was all him. She had never seen him before, but it was as if the world recognized them together. Looking at him, she felt so right. It was a primal emotion, this adrenaline. The drums in the background continued to beat.

Thump – her heart jumped, she stepped forward.

Thump – her heart jumped, she took another step.

Thump – she was in front of him. Her heart skipped.

Kagome looked at this foreign man, and felt nothing but lust. Lust was one of the first ties between men, and it was powerful.

All around her the room was dark and shadowed. His eyes shone like two beacons of light in the darkness, calling to her.

And she was summoned. Eyes never leaving his, Kagome slowly lifted her hand, heavy in this foreign realm. She touched the air next to his cheek, parodying a caress. The air seemed to move with her hand. His eyes never left hers as he shuddered.

He was a dark man – dark, red eyes, black hair, pale, pale skin. But it was his aura that spoke to her most – he was not someone to be trifled with. He was littered with shadows, almost obscuring his true self.

Kagome let out a shuddering breath.

He suddenly reached out and grabbed the hand that had been near his face, using the momentum to pull her that last remaining distance that had been between them. She fell against his hard, muscled body noiselessly. The drums began to beat faster.

He put a hand to the back of her head and yanked her to him, crushing his lips to hers. He ground his hips into the crook of her body.

Kagome let out a whimper. She gyrated back at him, opening her mouth. His tongue swept in, conquering her mouth in one thrust.

She moved her hand in-between their bodies, sliding down his chest, hesitating just above his tied pants.

She could feel the pulsing. The blood under his skin was moving swiftly under her hand. She could feel the beat of the drums reverberate in the background, pulsing with her, pulsing through her hand and to his stomach. He groaned as the vibrations traveled lower.

Kagome furthered the kiss and began to suck lightly on his lower lip, rubbing her hand back and forth on his stomach.

The drums were reaching a crescendo. Kagome began to pant, out of breath as excitement began to boil over. He was not much better, losing the composure that she could see he valued.

She jerked back to look in his eyes, to see just who she was dealing with, to see what man could affect her so.

The drums stopped suddenly, cooling the passion between the two. Kagome's heart stilled with the drums.

He suddenly disappeared, black shadows taking his place, taking his shocked ruby red eyes.

Kagome jerked awake.

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Sweat was pouring down her face, as Kagome sat up in her cot at Yusuke's house. The room was dim, no light shining in from the window.

Kagome raised shaking hands to put her head in. What had happened?

The last thing she remembered was trying to fight off the demon. And the next thing she knew she was having her first erotic dream.

Kagome began to shake. What was the matter with her? Inuyasha was barely dead, and here she was betraying him. Granted, it was in a dream. But it had seemed so life-like… She had promised herself to him, promised that she would be with him always.

She was nothing better than a common whore.

A tear leaked out one eye, then the other. She was a failure. She was failing him even in death.

More tears began to fall, salting the air, and rubbing Kagome's eye's raw.

Kagome tried to move, to get off the bed and maybe go to the kitchen, figuring a walk and a drink would help. She could barely make it to the edge of the cot. She was so sore; her body pulsed in dull waves of pain. Her arm had a dull burning sensation that wasn't letting up.

Kagome stilled to look herself over. The only thing she could see on her body at all was on her arm. There was a slightly red welt. She frowned. It looked like a burn. No wonder it hurt so much. Burns seemed to be one of the worse things in the world.

But how the hell did she get a burn on her arm? Kagome laid back down on the cot, trying to think back to the attack. She closed her eyes and measured her breathing.

She had been surrounded. That she could remember. She had been in an alley with no way out. The demons had begun to move in on her, for no reason that she could fathom.

She frowned, trying to remember what had come next. The memory began to come back with more detail. There had been the smell of burning things, the noise of electricity. The wall had been cold on her back, lending no support to her frightened mind.

Ah, that's right. She had had a revolution. A small one, by way of revolutions, but a revolution none the less. She was in the present. No one was going to save her here from demons. And this time, she couldn't hurt anyone with her failure.

So she had finally tried to use her miko powers again.

Kagome frowned again. That was when things had gone black. But she knew, without a doubt, that she had not called any power.

She knew what power felt like. She had used it enough in the past to know the sensation. The heady feeling of adrenaline as it swept through your body, the tingle it left behind, the surge of rightness that came from using a neglected part of yourself. She knew how to open the door that would grant her access to all that.

She could have sworn that she had used it then. That door had become second nature in the past, where there were no moments to sit and meditate to call power as demons were attacking.

What had happened?

Kagome had opened the door, but no power had come out. The reason she was probably unconscious was because the damn demon had touched her. It had probably shocked her into oblivion.

A small grunt escaped her.

Maybe it had been the stress and pressure of the moment. Maybe, since she hadn't called it in so long, it just couldn't be called on the spot anymore in a moment of pressure.

Kagome closed eyes that had opened in shock and slowed breathing that had accelerated unbidden. The key to accessing your power was through control of mind and body. Mind over matter. That had been what Kaede would always say.

Kagome slowly began to shed her body mentally. Her breathing became so shallow that she could not hear it, her heart slow but steady. She lost contact with her surroundings, not noticing the room or occupants in any way – completely oblivious to the pair of brown eyes that watched her silently across the room. Her body was the last to go, losing almost every connection with it. She had stepped out of her body, as it were, so that she could focus just on her mind.

She opened her eyes to a white landscape. There was nothing to separate sky from land – she floated in nothing. She turned a slow circle. A bit away was a door. This door was her magic. She had trained her mind to create a door – something she could open and close at will, call and send away her magic at will. She had been around doors all her life, knew the mechanics of them intrinsically, and it had served its purpose of a metaphysical leash, of sorts.

Kagome floated to the door, hand outstretched. Now, she would open it and let her magic come back. With her powers back, she would remember things that were being forgotten. She would remember the past and her friends, and most importantly, Inuyasha. She would remember the love she had felt for him, the devotion and adoration. She would remember her pledge to him.

Her hand clenched on the handle, an old, brass contraption. Slowly, she pulled the door open.

Nothing happened. There was no familiar flash of pink light. There was no sparkle, no fuzzy feeling of warmth. There was nothing.

Kagome looked through a door that only showed her whiteness.

She came back to her body with a painful jerk.

Slowly, Kagome opened her eyes. Her magic was gone.

Her body began a fine tremble as she began staring comatose at the ceiling above her. She had lost all over again.

-----------------

Hiei jerked, shuddering as his entire body spasmed. With a snarl, he put his head into his heads, trying to close the Jagan eye. It was glowing a bright purple, lighting up the otherwise dark room.

Hiei threw himself up and away, trying to relieve the building tension through action. He was crouching in a corner, panting, when the Jagan sent another dagger of pain into his head.

With a cry Hiei threw himself into the wall, banging his head. Another cry escaped from his lips. This one was more ragged, more uncontrolled. He clenched his hands resting on the wall, digging his fingernails into his palms, letting the nails bring blood and pain. Pain could lessen the demon, bring him back from that brink.

It didn't work. The Jagan sent another wave of pain through Hiei, who writhed in agony.

The Jagan was getting brighter with each pulse. With each pulse Hiei cried out, his voice shaking at the end of each.

He was losing control of the Jagan.

Hiei's eyes suddenly began glowing violet. The Jagan slowly began to slide open, reveling in its new freedom. He snarled and hugged himself around the ribs, squeezing, trying to hold onto that meager thread of control.

He began screaming, trying to get rid of the energy. Black flames began to lick their way up his right arm; a vortex of wind began growing in the room, centered at Hiei's feet.

Through the pain and wind, Hiei could hear a cackle. He had no idea where it originated from – the Jagan had no voice to speak with, only a consciousness.

As the wind grew, the cackle got louder.

The cackle was not the Jagan.

He was being manipulated.

Hiei knew this fact with certainty. Somehow, whoever was laughing their guts out was having fun at his expense. Somehow, they had brought out the Jagan.

A fine rage settled into him. No one manipulated him. No one.

His line of sight darkened for a moment, and then became clear. The wind abruptly died down, the flames dropping off. The Jagan gave a malignant hiss and shut itself quickly.

For all that Hiei and the Jagan were separate, they were also as one. The Jagan was within Hiei, it was in his body, his mind. It shared the same vessel as did Hiei's soul. Its destruction spelt doom for them both. The fact that the Jagan hated being manipulated just as much as Hiei did meant nothing more than that the rage blossomed and gained girth, as well as the cooperation of the Jagan.

Whoever did this was going to pay.

Only after that would Hiei bother to discover why such tactics were being used on him. After all, kill first, then ask questions.

A small smirk settled on Hiei's face. His day had just improved.

-----------------

Yusuke had been watching his cousin since they had returned, assuring himself of her safety, of her reality. It would do little good to bring her here to help her past her suicidal tendencies only to have her murdered. He doubted his aunt would forgive him any easier if it wasn't her fault. And toss in trying to explain demons, and he knew that his ass would have been grass.

They had decided in Koenma's office that the best way to handle things would to first discover how much she remembered. Hopefully, she would just black out the entire experience, and wake up wondering how she got home. There would be no need to explain demons, spirit weapons, his job, her life being in danger… Yeah, it would definitely be easier if she just didn't remember anything.

They had puzzled over the recent timeline of events in the office for at least two hours. No one could come up with an idea of how the demons got there, much less evaded detection from Koenma. If there had been a bug on them, it had disintegrated with the rest of the demons' bodies.

What bothered Yusuke the most, though, was not how the demons got to be there, but why they had targeted Kagome. Maybe one or two would target her, as a defenseless girl in an alley, but more coming to aid was illogical. Unless she had been the target. In his line of work, coincidences were rare and far in-between. And the fact that his cousin had been targeted was just too big of a coincident to ignore.

The only logical explanation that he could see would be trying to gain a hold over him. Everyone in the demon realm knew he was the head of the Spirit Detectives. The easiest way to defeat him would to have something to hold against him, like a hostage. It must mean they were getting close. That was a slightly comforting thought.

Yusuke was continuing to puzzle out the entire issue when he saw Kagome wake up. He figured she must have been having a nightmare, what with the sweat poring off her in waves. He could almost feel the guilt and hatred inside of her. He frowned. He was about to speak up and see if she was ok, and hopefully subtly find out if she knew anything, when she started to cry.

Well damn. Yusuke hated tears. He couldn't deal with women when they were crying. They were just so helpless! He felt like he had to do anything to make them feel better – and that generally didn't help him any. He opened his mouth to say something, anything, to make his cousin feel better when she suddenly laid back down. He snapped his mouth shut in confusion. What the hell was she doing? No girl he knew of could just shut off the waterworks and try and go to sleep. They had to have a good reason first, and sleep usually didn't count.

He watched Kagome for a moment, trying to prepare for talking to her when she was so obviously upset. Maybe she was trying to calm down?

He jerked involuntarily when he realized what was happening. He had been a wandering spirit, too, when he had died, and he knew what astral projection felt like. Damn if his cousin was projecting herself.

But that required magic, at the very least knowledge of magic. Had his cousin been hiding something from him all these years? Since he had rescued her?

He looked at her with a new light, as she jerked back into her body. He made no move to get up when he saw her glazed eyes staring at the ceiling. He suddenly had all new information and possibilities to sift through, and he was going to make sure that Kagome wasn't going to go anywhere while he did that. He was betting she had known exactly what had been going on in that alley. And if she did, that suddenly made her a very dangerous person.

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Well damn if I didn't get another chapter out. I wasn't sure where I wanted to go with this, and then I hit a nice run and had words pouring out. It was great. It all started with wanting to write a lemon. I'll go more into that in my blog, as things like that are the point of my blog. It is one page shorter than the last, but longer than usual, and I think better than the last couple have been. Please review and let me know what you think. Also, does anyone know why my word count is vastly different on than on I believe fanfiction is closer to the actual number. Thanks, enjoy, BoxingKing.


	9. Chapter 9

_**Ultimatum**_

_Chapter 8_

_Boxing King_

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Ok, so as not to make the mini blurbs at the beginning and/or end of the chapter seem longer, I'm just going to redirect questions to my blog – where I have already responded to them. :D Here is the link: boxingking-wordsofwisdomonwriting. That way the story doesn't seem longer than it is due to this stuff. But I will definitely answer some recurring questions and points, like: pairing, grammar of "revolution", magic, and an explanation of how I'm going to explain the past ( D). I blab on a lot, so the answers will probably be longer than what I deem ok at the top of a chapter. Currently, it is the third most recent post, so third down, titled Questions Answered. Onto the story!

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Hiei awoke slowly, his mind slow to move. He couldn't remember falling asleep, couldn't even remember when he went to rest, really. Generally, he didn't need that much sleep. Fighting to control the Jagan must have tired him more than he had originally thought if he was falling asleep that easily.

He slowly opened his eyes, groggy and heavy. The world was blurry at first, lazily sharpening into focus. He was in a tree, which wasn't unusual. Hiei tried to make a habit of falling asleep in trees as people generally couldn't bother him there. If nothing else, they made a comfortable perch.

He was stiffer than normal. Hiei grunted slightly. He must have been out longer than he thought. He lifted his arms above his head and stretched, cracking his back and several joints. With a sigh he relaxed back into the smooth bark, and began to look around.

He didn't know where he was. He had assumed he was in a nearby park, what with the giant tree and all. But he knew all of the parks in the city, and they bore no resemblance to where he was now. The trees were different, taller and healthier. Their green seemed brighter than a normal tree in summer.

He breathed deeply, trying to associate familiar smells. He hadn't noticed it before, but damn if the air wasn't clearer. It was lighter, easier to breathe. A small smile flitted across his mouth before he could stop it. One of the things he missed the most in the human realm was the clean air, the atmosphere in the demon realm being far superior. He sucked in another lungful, drawing it out to relish the clean atmosphere.

He let his gaze sweep the trees again. He looked down.

Hiei jerked. His eyes went wide, finally noticing the people sleeping below him next to a smoldering fire. He stilled his breathing automatically, making it as soundless as possible, narrowing his eyes. He fervently hoped that the telltale action he had given earlier wasn't enough to wake the people below him. He had no wish to deal with inquisitive, distrustful humans right now. They were an annoying nuisance that tended to ruin his solitude.

He relaxed slightly, seeing no action from the slumbering humans. With a cautious air, he gave a slight sniff, thinking to maybe discover the identity of those below him.

He breathed deep, exalting in the cleaner air that seemed to heighten his senses. He could smell so much more, now, without the smog blocking the most basic scents.

And damn if it didn't clarify a thing for him. He couldn't distinguish a single scent amongst them! Hiei took a good look below him. There seemed to be three humans and two demons, which meant that he was no longer in the human realms.

What would possess two demons to travel with humans? His circumstances were extenuating – he was forced to work with humans. From the cozy way everyone looked, the same could not be said for them.

He frowned. Maybe he should wake them up for the hell of it, just to ruin their night. Would serve them right for sleeping with humans.

Hiei flipped his hair over his shoulder, leaning forward to squat, preparing to sprint away from this odd group. His hands gripped the branch beneath him.

Wait – hair? He had hair that needed to be flipped over a shoulder? What the fuck? What had happened to his usual look? Hiei sat with a small thump on the branch, letting his balance take over. His hands frantically went to his head to discover what had happened.

He had long, black locks of hair.

What the hell was going on? His eyes jerked down to preview the rest of his body.

He was wearing fucking red! He never wore red! Hiei swore. It wasn't even pants and a cape, but freaking pantaloons and a vest. With holes! A growl began reverberating around his chest.

It sounded pathetic. He could barely make a proper growl. It sounded like a damn dog.

With a guttural snarl, he jumped down from the high tree branches. Maybe the demons and those damn humans would know what was going on.

With his landing, the group began to stir.

They awoke quickly, hands going to weapons or defensive positions. And right they should, even if he looked different.

"What do you sense?" asked a male human, holding a staff. He was dressed in dark robes, his stature straight and proud.

Hiei frowned. He acted as if he knew him. Hiei had never met the human before in his life. It didn't matter, the question still needed to be asked. The words tumbled out before he could stop them.

"Something's coming."

Well hell. That certainly wasn't what he had wanted to say. It wasn't even a freaking question.

Everyone began getting up. He could see who he was talking to now, as they began murmuring to themselves. Well damn if the demons could help him. One was a tiny cat demon, the other a child fox.

"Is it him?" spoke up one of the human women. She had long, brown hair, and she was dressed in the traditional slayer getup. Hiei hadn't seen that in a long time. It came as a shock to him, so see anyone dressed as such. He hadn't thought to see that outfit ever again. Which was a good thing, in his estimation.

He growled again, lower in his chest. Who the hell was 'him'?

"Yes." Apparently, someone he knew.

The final human spoke up. Her voice was melodious, but he didn't really comprehend what she was saying. It was her. The woman from his dream.

His gaze grew heated thinking about her. He watched her closely, seeing the blood rise to her face. She knew what that look meant, even though she seemed to meet it with innocence, not really comprehending just everything that he wanted to do to her. He knew that was an act. The women had been a vixen with him.

"A puppet."

What? What puppet? What the hell was he talking about? Hiei had no idea why he was suddenly sprouting unidentifiable thoughts to these unknown people. He was just rambling! Apparently, the humans understood just fine, though. He could see the fear come about their countenance as they heard and understood his response to whatever the vixen had been asking.

Hiei opened his mouth to ask just what the hell was going on when the demon slayer spoke up.

"He can't see you, Inuyasha. He would know what was going on. What do we do?"

Inuyasha? What the fuck? Who was Inuyasha?

"We'll hold it off while you hide. Dawn is close, it won't be able to take us down before then."

Hiei looked at the vixen. She was biting her lip, considering the situation.

"Inuyasha, maybe that would be for the best-"

"Like hell!" shouted Hiei, interrupting the vixen. Well, there, that was something more akin to what he wanted to say. Threats would most likely get a quick response out of them. Hiei opened his mouth to demand their attention with a nasty comment about torture when the air suddenly thickened.

"It's here," Hiei groaned out. The air seemed to weigh down upon them all, pressing the air out of his lungs. He was struggling to breath, as were the three humans around him. The demons, for some odd reason, were still asleep, unaffected by the weighted atmosphere.

Hiei's eyes were turned in the direction of the vixen. He could see her struggle, hear her labored breathing. Behind her, two read eyes suddenly opened from the foliage.

A quiet chuckle filled the air. The humans all stiffened, recognizing the danger, unable to move. A nasal voice filled the small clearing they were sitting in.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" The red eyes focused on Hiei. "I see four humans and only two demons. Could it be that something has run amiss with your strong dog-demon compatriot?" The voice chuckled malevolently. "It seems, travelers, that we have found the great day of weakness for the half-demon." Teeth glinted in a smirk beneath the eyes. "I just wonder how this will turn out."

Hiei was frozen in fear. It wasn't his fear, per se, since he knew he could best this demon on a bad day, but his body was reacting to it all the same. His mind was seizing up, refusing to consider a plan of action, his breathing became even more difficult as harsh panting joined the struggles of the atmosphere, and his body was seemingly petrified.

His hand twitched, trying to find the sword normally at his side.

The demon attacked, sending a spiking appendage soaring towards Hiei. He couldn't force his body to move in time, and the tentacle pierced his stomach, ripping through to his back.

Hiei grunted and fell to his knees, hands limp at his sides, as the tentacle recoiled back into the bushes. He was oblivious to the shouts of the humans, oblivious to everything but the reality of a mortal strike to a mortal body.

Hiei revolted on the concept of such a grisly wound from such pathetic conditions and blacked out. Or maybe it was simply from pain. Either way the scene faded out, and Hiei was no more.

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Kuwabara was walking briskly down the street towards Yusuke's apartment. So far, everyone was in the dark about how the whole thing with his cousin had ended. Did she know, or was she still blissfully unaware of the evil in the world? Kuwabara hoped it was the latter. He wouldn't wish the knowledge of demons being real on anyone. Who wanted to know that their worst fears were most likely real, and that the monster in their closet could readily eat them?

He grunted, almost to Yusuke's place. One of the first things he planned to do was pulverize the jerk for not telling anyone what was going on. They were a team after all, and this girl happened to be a bit of a major concern for everyone right now.

He began walking up the steps to the complex, looking around for thugs. Yusuke didn't exactly live in the best neighborhood, and while he wouldn't mind being jumped for the fun of it, he was on a mission. Granted, it was a minor mission, but a mission none the less.

Kuwabara raised his fist to pound on the door, fingers clenched hard in frustration, when it opened to Yusuke's extremely pissed off face.

Kuwabara blinked, hand still in the air.

"What?" demanded Yusuke.

"Uhm, well, we just kind of wanted to know how it was going with your cousin. Has she…, uhm, she… woken up yet?" stuttered out Kuwabara. He had seen Yusuke mad on plenty of occasions, but it was always safer to find out who, or what, he was mad at first. Kuwabara tended to avoid bruises that way. And damn if he hadn't seen him this pissed off in a long, long time.

Yusuke let the door swing wide, stepping into the dark recesses of the unlighted apartment. Kuwabara repressed a shudder at the creepiness that this gesture created. He walked in anyways. Never let it be known that he walked away from a challenge or scary place. He had a reputation, after all. And Yusuke looked as if he needed help with some things.

The door thudded shut with a forbidding creak. The hallway that Kuwabara had walked into was almost completely dark, illuminated only by the small bits of light coming from the windows in nearby rooms.

Kuwabara followed the random clanks he was hearing and ended up in the kitchen. He pulled out an old chair littered in duct tape to hold the stuffing in. He settled in uncomfortably, easily aware of the tension rolling in waves off of Yusuke.

"So, Urameshi, just what's going on here," began Kuwabara quietly. "Any word on your cousin? Is our cover blown?"

Yusuke slammed a pot viciously onto the stove, letting the solid thunk reverberate though the kitchen for a moment.

"She knows," he ground out. "She has to fucking know."

With a snarl upon his face Yusuke whirled to face Kuwabara. "She has fucking spiritual powers and she never told me! She fucking knows of Spirit World and demons and the Demon World and everything. She has to! DAMNIT!" Yusuke turned around and swept his fist across the stove, toppling pots and dishes everywhere.

The noise was a mute cacophony to Kuwabara's ears compared to the fury in Yusuke's eyes. He pulled himself up straight in his chair, his back to the chair's back. His emotions were guarded, and he made sure to remain calm. Yusuke was not a person for secrets, especially not from those he cared about. Yeah, sure, he knew everyone had their skeletons and certain things that you just didn't share. But for his cousin to know of the realms and demons must mean that she also knew of the Spirit Detectives; they weren't exactly low key. And that meant that she had purposely kept this form somebody that cared about her and would understand everything she was going through perfectly, also giving him the same in return. Yusuke had precious few people to talk about his work with. Well damn.

Kuwabara spoke up hesitantly, "Are you sure she knows? Did she specifically say that she knew, Yusuke? This isn't something we can just assume."

Yusuke was leaning spread eagle on the counter top, breathing heavily, trying to control his temper.

"No," he said shortly. "She didn't. But she projected herself outside of her body while I was there. That means she knows of magic, which means she has to know of us. Koenma would have found her long ago. She used to freaking live on a shrine, damnit!"

All of a sudden the gusto went of Yusuke. He put his hands up to cover his face and staggered to a chair, slumping down.

Kuwabara watched him closely, looking for a sign. Yusuke started up mumbling again, speaking in short, succinct sentences.

"She was doing something with her powers when I left. At least I think she was. I couldn't sense anything. She came out of the trance she was in looking pretty bad. I just left her there. I was so furious at this Kuwabara." He let his hands slide down and looked his friend in the eye. "I felt betrayed. I suppose I kind of did it out of revenge, leaving her there." Yusuke had a slightly lost look in his eyes. "What do I do?"

Kuwabara leaned forward and placed his hand on Yusuke's shoulder. "_We_ are going to go check on her. And then _we_ are going to ask her some questions and get a straight answer out of your cousin."

Yusuke nodded at the affirmation of their friendship. "Yeah… thanks."

They stood up together. They moved purposefully towards Yusuke's bedroom. Kuwabara watched his friend pull himself back together. The layers came back on as his back straightened, his brow firmed and his eyes became just a little bit colder. He was preparing to face his cousin.

Yusuke moved ahead of Kuwabara in the hallway, making sure he would be the first one Kagome would see and confront. It was his duty. Hell, it was his cousin.

He twisted the doorknob slowly, his hand perspiring in nervousness. He was stalling, trying to give his cousin as much advance notice as he could, trying to let her pull herself together.

He shoved into the room.

At first he didn't understand what he was looking at. He frowned, creases coming between his eyes in consternation.

The damn bed was empty.

Kuwabara sidled past Yusuke, sick of waiting in the hall without knowing what was going on. He looked around the room – there wasn't exactly a place for a full-sized body to hide.

"Where the hell is she, Urameshi?"

Yusuke began to grow worried. While he and Kuwabara didn't have demon hearing, and he had been shouting, they hadn't heard Kagome stirring. He turned around quickly and ran to the bathroom.

She wasn't there.

Yusuke slammed the door to the bathroom closed with a muttered curse. He moved throughout the rest of the house, small as it was, at a jog. Kuwabara silently moved behind him.

Kagome was not in the apartment.

They ended up back in the kitchen with Yusuke pacing its small confines.

"What the hell happened, Kuwabara? Where is she?" He whirled to face his friend. "I didn't hear her leave. Did you?"

Kuwabara noted the anxious look in his friend's eyes. "No."

Yusuke's face fell, struck hard by the reality. "She must have been kidnapped, then. The demons have gotten to her, anyways. I failed in my job, Kuwabara! My cousin is out there all alone defenseless with demons! FUCK!"

"Now Yusuke, calm down. We don't know that she was kidnapped. Let's check the surrounding area. Maybe she heard us and wandered off for a walk to clear her head."

Yusuke was already in the hall while Kuwabara was speaking, preparing to leave and search for his missing cousin. Kuwabara could do nothing but follow along helplessly and aid Yusuke in his search. He fervently hoped that Kagome had just gone for a walk.

The alternative was just too scary to admit.

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There! Finally got the next chapter out! It took forever, and three sessions of writing, but I got it down. I think I had some flow going on there, especially at the end. Let me know what you all think. Check out my blog as well! Thank you madmiko for your support!

BoxingKing


	10. Chapter 10

_**Ultimatum**_

_Chapter 10_

_Boxing King_

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Ok, if you want the PAIRING of the story, go to my BLOG under QUESTIONS ANSWERED and find out. The LINK is in the last chapter and on my profile.

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Ok, sorry this took so long to get out. I got in a slump and have yet to really get out. I won't be abandoning any stories though. If you want to keep updated and see if I'm writing, or even just alive, go to my blog. Thank you madmiko for your support, I hope I was able to help you out on the next chapter. Read and Enjoy. And pretty please review. Please…

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Kagome hugged the wall as she walked down the deserted street. What had she done? What was she going to do? She had just run away from her salvation, from the one person that had cared for her.

But it wasn't like she could just stay. That life had been a joke, and was especially so now. She had been living a façade, where she tried to squeeze into Yusuke's life, Yusuke's friends, Yusuke's hope. She had hoped that by being so near him, that by being like him, she could change. She wanted his attitude, his courage, his strength. Back in the alley when she had tried to release her spirit powers, she had had that. Or she thought she had. She thought she had changed, had become someone new that was willing to fight and could actually win. Turns out she didn't. She had failed.

Kagome hugged herself, protected from the weather by a thin sweater she had grabbed on her way out the window. She felt a shiver pass through her at a particularly strong wind, but she didn't really care.

She was back to being pathetic. And to top it all off, she had lost her powers. They were gone. While sitting in Yusuke's bedroom, she had tried vainly to find them, meditating and searching within herself for them. But it was hopeless. Kagome had taken the chance when there was a knock on the door to escape, climbing carefully out of the window and swinging down to the alley behind the condo. From there she walked.

She was completely silent as she walked. She needed to figure out what she needed to do with herself. She couldn't go back to Yusuke, and she certainly couldn't go back home. She had failed everyone. She closed her eyes as she walked. She couldn't face them with the shame so naked on her face.

With a shudder, Kagome collapsed in a corner at the end of the alley. Head buried in her arms, a tear slowly leaked out the corner of her eye. Maybe she had been wrong to survive in the hospital. Maybe she should just try again, except succeed. Kagome stifled a sob. She couldn't even kill herself properly. Her life was nothing. She had failed in the past; she had failed in the present. Where did that leave her? She couldn't exactly go to the future.

Another tear slipped out, and before she knew it, her body was wracked with wrenching sobs.

This was how Yusuke and Kuwabara found her. Alone, dirty and cold, crying in an alley.

When Yusuke came upon her, a weight was lifted from his shoulders. He had thought the worst when their room had turned up empty. His mind had sabotaged him with guilt and worry, slowly dragging him down. It was a tremendous feeling to find her ok.

He and Kuwabara had picked up a faint trail of her in the alley and simply followed her here. He was amazed that she hadn't been attacked, not exactly being in a decent part of town. He had stopped so short when he saw her that Kuwabara nearly ran into him.

Yusuke tuned out the grumblings of his friend to take stock of his cousin. From what he could see, she was ok. Granted, he couldn't see much, and she was crying, but she wasn't bleeding, and damnit she was alive. That was better than they had expected.

"Kagome…" he whispered. She didn't hear him over her sobbing. "Kagome," this time more forceful, stronger.

Her cries hesitated, growing quiet.

"Y-Yusuke," she whispered.

Kagome clenched her eyes shut tight. Let it be true. Let him have come for me. Somebody cared enough to look. She opened her eyes.

Yusuke slowly walked up to her and knelt down. Eyes grave, posture stiff, he spoke.

"You IDIOT!" Kagome jerked. She looked at him aghast. "What, you think we wouldn't notice?" Where the hell was sweet, caring, sensitive Yusuke? "Hello, empty bedroom!" Yusuke was glaring at her. "Do you realize what you put me through? You deciding to _run off_ in one of the _seediest_ parts of town? We thought you were KIDNAPPED! We thought that you had been TAKEN! ABUDCUTED! What the hell were we supposed to do? And all because you were DEPRESSED!" Yusuke put his nose right in front of her face. "I thought we had beaten the urge to die out of you."

Kagome's eyes flashed. How dare _he_ talk to _her_ like that! "Yusuke," she gnashed out between clenched teeth. "I'm not some child you can just criticize like that. How dare you-"

"How dare YOU!" shouted Yusuke. "Are you so stupid to think that nobody cares about you in this world, Kagome? What would your family think? You think Souta wants a dead sister? YOU PROMISED HIM YOU WOULD COME BACK! Does that mean nothing to you?"

He's right, she realized. Here she was, breaking promises, crushing people again. All over again.

Like hell could he just bring everything like that back up again.

Kagome leaned back, drew back her fist, and punched Yusuke square in the jaw.

"Oooow!" cried Kagome. Yusuke remained as unmoving as stone, not even flinching from the hit.

Kuwabara shook his head in the corner he had retired to to watch the fight. Like cousin, like cousin.

"Feel better?" Yusuke asked.

"NO! Now my hand hurts." She began rubbing her abused knuckles, glaring at him from the slits her eyes had made. "You had no right to say that. I – I didn't think – It' wasn't supposed to hurt them. This was supposed to be the easier way. For them."

Yusuke snorted. "Yeah, right, easier for them. Death is always easier on the dead ones, Kagome, not on the ones that have to deal with the sudden loss. Your family would be heartbroken. Already, they have lost a husband and father. You want to deprive them so purposefully of their daughter and sister too?"

Kagome looked away. She could feel the shame rising. He was right… again. Damn him. But he was right. She fell back down to sit. If she had killed herself, it would be her worries that disappeared, not those of her mother, brother, or grandfather. The only problems she would solve would be hers. How very selfish of her.

Yusuke watched her sit in silence for a moment. He grunted and squatted next to her to lean against the wall, side by side. He stared straight ahead. "You know, this self pity that you have gotten into needs to stop. Your life isn't that bad, Kagome." He felt her stiffen next to him. "Why, you have somebody who cares right next to you, willing to help you through anything at all. I can help you, and so can others. We can help you through whatever it is you are dealing with." He turned his head to look at her. "You just need to let us in. Let us know what is going on. Unfortunately, not all of us are psychic and we don't know what the hell you're thinking." He snickered. "Especially 'cause you're a girl."

Kagome tilted into him playfully. "Shut it, Yusuke." She stared down the same alley as he was, just as fascinated. "Maybe, maybe when all this blows over a bit, and we get home and grab some food, I'll tell you about what's bothering me. That is, if you want to listen. It's a long story. You might not be up to it, short attention span and all."

Yusuke continued to look forward. "If not, wake me up when we get to the critical part."

Kagome smiled and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"I'm glad you cared, Yusuke."

He smiled.

Kuwabara grunted and put his head in his hands. Oh yeah. They were definitely related. Idiots.

-----------------

Hiei awoke to Kurama sticking some obnoxious plant under his nose. The stench drifted up his nose, and he snarled while sneezing.

Kurama leaned back onto his haunches relieved.

"You're awake, Hiei. I was getting worried," he said in a relaxed tone.

Hiei's eyes snapped to the Fox's. "What the hell just happened?"

Kurama was watching him carefully, analyzing his every move. "I don't know, Hiei. I came to ask you a few questions and you were blacked out on the floor, unresponsive to everything else I have tried." He blinked one long, slow blink, letting the gold color emerald. "Maybe you should tell me. What do you remember? Was it an attack?"

Hiei looked at Kurama carefully. "What do you know of out of body experiences, Fox?"

Kurama quirked an eyebrow. "I'm assuming you aren't talking about typical bodily pleasures." He mock sighed. "It's too bad. You have an even greater reputation than myself of avoiding anything remotely close to a relationship."

Hiei tensed. If he only knew what he had been thinking earlier, to the beat of some frisky drums.

Kurama continued on. "I know quite a bit about drug-induced states of such mental displacement, but I don't sense any of the lingering effects on you. You would have had to been hit with a large does of such a drug due to your increased metabolism, and obviously some pertinent family history would have had to been known for anything to even remotely have a chance of working on you. I don't sense any lingering feel of the Makai on you, Hiei, so it wasn't a plant from the Makai – which would be the only kind that could affect a demon of your stature."

Hiei looked at him for a moment. "A simple no wouldn't have sufficed?"

Kurama smirked while standing. "Careful Hiei, you are beginning to sound a lot like Yusuke."

Hiei rolled his eyes. Damn Fox. "So if it wasn't from a plant, then how did it happen?"

Kurama studied him. "I need to know what we are talking about. Astral projection of any kind is too broad of a subject."

Hiei grunted and sat up, rubbing his forehead. "I woke up in some other land. I looked different, and whatever I wanted to say didn't come out – it was like a programmed script. I think I was taking the place of someone else."

Kurama say the tensing of Hiei's shoulders, the pinching around his eyes. "Did you know anyone, Hiei?"

"Hn. No. I would have said so. It would have let me know what was going on, in any case." Hiei had no idea why he kept quiet about the girl.

Kurama nodded. "I have no idea. If you didn't know anyone, it can't have been some kind of psychic connection or impression that would have been heightened by the Jagan and its capacity of psych. I don't know of any living demons that could have done such a thing to you."

Hiei stood and stretched. "I thought as much." He looked at Kurama and let an ominous void fill his eyes. "We will keep this from everyone else."

Kurama looked insulted. "Of course," he said, a slightly haughty tone to his voice.

Hiei nodded. "I need to release some tension." He curved his head and slanted a look at the Fox. "Want to spar?"

Kurama's face went grim with a smile. "Of course," he practically purred.

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Koenma had a hand against his head, holding it up from the tremendous pressure he was getting from a headache born of tedium. He had been reading through minor journals of previous monk, priests and priestesses of the last thousand years. It had been one of the last caches of written material in the library that they had yet to read. He had been going through them for the last fourteen hours, trying to repress the stress he felt from not getting an update form Yusuke on his cousin. Damn the tardy boy. He could at least care enough about other people to keep them informed. And Kuwabara was just as bad. He hadn't come back yet, either.

Koenma let out a big gusto of air. He turned one last page in the journal, preparing to shut the damnable thing before it drove him insane. This monk was all about the health of the people, and only barely concerned with any demon sightings. He doubted that he would find the clue behind the spider in here.

And that would be when he saw the word spider.

He nearly had a heart attack at the surprise it caused. It was the first mention of a spider anywhere! Koenma had no idea why no one would take to the spider emblem again. It wasn't like it was claimed.

He focused in on the journal, trying to read the smudges and faded ink as best as he could. "Spider… Jewel… War… Demon…" mumbled Koenma. He sat back in his chair with an audible thump.

What a load of baloney. War, treasure, demons – the usual. Only one small mention of a spider, one measly word, and the man can't go into any more detail. If this was anything of what they might be facing, it wasn't new. For cripes sake, it wasn't as if they didn't face this all the time. This was utterly useless.

Except for the word spider, the first in the last four hundred years. There had to be a reason for that. And if nothing else, he had found the right time period. Maybe he wouldn't have to give Hiei that favor after all.

Koenma leaned back pensively, hands steeped in front of his face. He gazed at the small, dead spider lying on his desk. There had to be a connection.

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Ok, finally got this out. Not as much of a filler as the other chapter I stated as such, but it follows that pattern. And no cliff hanger. Dang. I'm losing my touch. ; D This chapter was a bit hard to do, but once I got a flow going it went well. So, here is to the reviews. May they be plentiful in the coming year. chug BoxingKing


	11. Chapter 11

_**Ultimatum**_

_Chapter 11_

_Boxing King_

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Ok, this came from me watching Sweeney Todd in theatres. See if that comforts you. It plays into the story, it does. Let's see if anyone gets it… In the meantime, sorry for the long wait for an update on the chapter. I started school, and with the addition of work, things just got pushed back. I love my ending. I already have the next bits of the next chapter planned out, so it shouldn't be as long in coming. Also, check out my blog for updates on long silences and chapters and such. I would love for people to read that too! http://boxingking-wordsofwisdomonwriting. Read and Enjoy. BoxingKing

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Oh, how sweet his hunger was. Oh the agony to have the blood drip down his hands. To wallow in it would be his greatest dream. If only he could have the blood. Sweet, sweet blood. The only thing denied him.

How he desired to taste it, to lick up the salt and copper tang. One bite, one slice of his teeth, and he would be bathed in desires.

God, the temptation. He lay in bed with her, spooned together. Sex lingered in the air around them.

He ran a hand over her shoulder and down her back, lovingly caressing the enticing flesh. He could feel the blood pumping beneath his hand, sending life blood to her.

Oh, God, the temptation.

His hand moved lower, caressing over her back, moving past her sweet, full ass, down to her legs. Right between them rested what he wanted.

One of the sweetest places to take blood from.

Should it be the neck, her wrists, her thigh? Each was equally sweet, each held his attention, and each was his for the taking.

Oh, the choices. He leaned forward and placed his lips on her long, graceful neck. What a beautiful neck she had. He could see the beat of a pulse, feel it pressing upon his lips. He laid a gentle kiss directly above his desires.

He would hate to ravage the neck. It would ruin one of her best features.

Perhaps the wrist. He gently held one up for his inspection. A small murmur of distaste went through him. They were too slight, too bony, for his taste. One bite and he would be through it. He wanted to be able to bite down and have flesh between his teeth, flavoring the sweet, sweet blood that would be pouring into his mouth and down his throat.

That left her thigh, then. It would be for the best. After all, he had already spent a good amount of time down there tonight. What better to finish than where he had started?

He slowly laid her back onto the bed, still sleeping from the vigorous workout he had given her.

Oh she was beautiful. Her black hair cushioned her head and framed her face. She had the most beautiful blue eyes. It was probably for the best that he could not see them now, could not be enticed away. Or filled with guilt.

His eyes blatantly roved down her body, taking in full, luscious breasts, a trim waist, and long, long shapely legs. God, her legs.

He slowly settled himself between them, spreading them slightly. She was still damp from their lovemaking. He could smell their lingering scents all over her.

He placed his hands directly on her thighs, right above where he would be feasting. He slowly spread her legs apart, just far enough for his mouth to go down and linger.

He leaned down. He hesitated right above her skin, feeling the pulsing, pounding blood. It would be so sweet, the finest he had ever had.

He lunged down and struck, hitting the vein perfectly. He savaged her with his mouth, his fangs.

Oh, God, he could taste it already, the blood pouring into his mouth.

He could feel it dripping down the sides of his mouth, staining his mouth and neck red. The waste didn't matter – there was so much more to take, an entire body to drain.

He began to drink. He suckled the flesh, letting it flow down his throat, into his stomach. It was a feast. He could never have enough.

Within seconds, it seemed as if he were full. He opened his eyes, and looked up. She was still so ethereal, not yet awake. It was a wonder that she could sleep through the damage. But then, he had been as gentle as he could.

Really, it would only be a matter of time before she awoke. He crawled back up to her, taking her limp body in his arms. He rearranged her against his body, once again spooning her. Only a matter of time.

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Hiei jerked and sat upright.

He trailed his hand across his mouth and down his neck. He assured himself of the lack of blood, just as he always did.

This wasn't the first time had had this dream – it wasn't even the second. It continued to perpetuate the little sleep he took.

What was the meaning? Yeah, sure, he was a demon, but it wasn't like he craved blood in the sensual sense that the dreams kept giving him. He may want blood in the form of destruction, but that was it.

At least until the dreams. During the dreams, he craved blood so badly that he was willing to do anything. Just like he did to the girl. The feeling was beginning to linger as he woke up.

And damn if it wasn't with that girl again. Just who the hell was she?

Were the dreams even his dreams? He had been having trouble with the Jagan lately. Flaring up, trying to break loose, sending him to unknown places. Was it the same demon as before that had tried to manipulate him? This didn't reek of the same thing, the same malevolence, but anything was possible. It wasn't like there were that many people trying to manipulate him at the same time.

Hopefully, the manipulations were failing. He didn't need that type of bloodlust coming out in his real life. There were enough weak, pathetic people out there that he could suck dry no problem. There was no telling the danger he would be if he suddenly just started killing people. Koenma would have to kill him then.

Speaking of Koenma, Hiei wondered if the god had gotten anxious enough to grant him his favor. He knew that there would be few to no references of any spiders in the past. The one time it was used, the symbol had been contaminated beyond belief in the eyes of the people.

Hopefully, he had gotten worried. Hiei would just love to have a favor from the little twerp. No telling when he would need saving from the noose. Although, that time seemed to be coming up soon.

Hiei sighed. He rubbed his face slightly, trying to wake up more fully.

Mayhap it was time to go see Koenma.

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"Ok, Kagome. Tell it to me straight." Yusuke, Kuwabara and Kagome were all sitting at the kitchen table. Kagome was currently receiving the infamous version of the evil eye: the Urameshi eye. She shifted uncomfortably in the chair.

"Well… it's kind of a long story…"

"We'll wait," Yusuke said dryly. Kuwabara nodded his agreement. He didn't have anything more interesting to do for the day. And if this would give him an edge over Hiei, he would take it. The little man was always so insufferable to him.

Kagome let the air she had been holding escape. "Ok… To start off, there's this guy."

"Yeah, I know. Souta told me that he was that cause of all your problems."

Her eyes opened slightly. "He _told_ you? What did he say?"

Yusuke noted her slight panic, but answered anyways with a shrug. "He said they had no idea who the guy was, but he would have gladly beaten him up if he had known."

Kagome looked down for a moment. She had the sweetest brother ever. Yusuke wouldn't know that Souta _loved_ Inuyasha. He idolized him. With no strong male in the house, Souta had had to rely on Grandpa for masculine comparison. At least until Inuyasha came along. She remembered all the times that she would come home and find him begging to be told stories. It had made his week the few times that Inuyasha had come through the well.

"Ok, then. We got involved. It wasn't anything _physical_, per se. I liked him, but he was always too dense to notice. And he kind of had this other girlfriend. So, I hung out with him a lot, and a group of our friends. And then this other guy came… I'm not sure from where…" She trailed off for a moment. This didn't exactly sound believable. And if she didn't make it sound more realistic, Yusuke would never believe her story. But it wasn't like she could just tell him about time traveling. He would never believe her, might even have her committed. Suicide and delusions, the perfect combination. "And, well… and he was from a gang!" she said in a moment of inspiration. "My guy didn't like this _guy_," she substituted in. She couldn't give out a name. If she did, Yusuke would hunt some poor, random loser down and beat the shit out of him for no reason – at least no reason related to her. "So, they decided to fight it out. And – and, during the fight, some bad stuff happened, and I just got really depressed. You know?"

Even to her ears that sounded lame. But then again, maybe to a punk like Yusuke, gangs and fighting sounded perfectly normal. And any good girl could get caught up in some bad guy…

Yusuke nodded slowly. "Ok, Kagome." He looked her straight in the eye. "That is complete bull shit. What do you take us for? Simpletons?"

Kagome's jaw dropped. "Uhh…"

"No, don't answer that. Kagome, we know you have spiritual powers. Mayhap it is time for you to tell me the real story. And I doubt gangs are involved."

Well, damn if he was smarter than he looked. "Uh, Yusuke… I don't know –"

Both Yusuke's and Kuwabara's communicators went off. With a bit of inventive swearing, Yusuke picked his up.

"What?" he snapped out.

"Yusuke," piped up a tiny voice. "We need you to come in. As soon as possible."

"Yeah, yeah," he grunted. Just what he needed. Another interruption.

Kagome was looking at his communicator with a look of thanks clearly on her face. She had just been saved by the oddest looking cell phone she had ever seen. But in a situation like this, she was not one to complain. Thank god for cell phones.

Yusuke stood up. "I can see how much you don't want to finish this, Kagome, but don't think we are done. As soon as Kuwabara and I come back – no, wait," he said eyeing her and the door, "As soon as all three of us come back, we are picking up right where we left off."

Kagome nodded glumly. Stupid cell phones. They couldn't even create enough of a diversion for her. See if she would get one now…

Kuwabara put a friendly hand on her shoulder. "I think you might come to realize that we'll understand more than you think, Kagome." Contrary to what Yusuke thought, Kuwabara had a hunch that she knew nothing of the Spirit Worlds. She didn't seem to have any extra energy floating around her right now, either. And why would she tell a somewhat believable story to them if she knew all about them?

In any case, the cat would be out of the bag soon, so to speak.

-----------------

Hiei put his hands square on the desk, and leaned forward menacingly. "It is now or never, Koenma. Either give me my favor, and I tell you all that I know of this spider, or you flounder around on you own."

Koenma leaned back into his chair. "Now, Hiei…"

"NOW, Koenma!" Koenma gave a slight jerk at the shout.

"I – I found a reference to a spider in a journal, by a monk, and I think it might give me a clue. All I need is time, and then…"

"And why," interrupted Hiei, "would I give you the time? I want the favor, remember. More time means less chance that I get my favor."

"Well," tittered Koenma. "Why don't we just take a moment to talk about this…" he was frantically looking everywhere in the room but at Hiei.

Slowly a rumble built in Hiei's chest. "Koenma," he growled out.

The door to the office slammed open, and Koenma breathed a huge sigh of relief. Thank god he had called for the others right before Hiei had come. He had no idea how to go about stalling for that favor.

The three spirit detectives walked into the room en masse. Koenma was just about to call out to them when he saw one last figure straggle in, mouth agape and eyes wide.

"YUSUKE URAMESHI! You can't bring just anyone you please into this office!"

Yusuke strutted forward, hands in his pockets. "Relax, Toddler. This is my cousin, the one that was attacked. We were just about to discuss what had happened to her when you interrupted. Unfortunately, I can't really leave her on her own right now, so I had to bring her."

Koenma sat back in the chair and ground his teeth together. Damn insubordinate detective…

Kurama moved forward to keep the peace. "What did you need us for, Koenma? And what is Hiei doing here already?" That last question he hadn't really needed to ask. Kurama could already guess the answer from the way the demi-god was squirming. Hiei was probably calling in his favor.

He took a closer look at his comrade. Hiei hadn't taken his eyes off of Koenma. They seemed to be throwing daggers at the smaller man. Kurama also saw him grinding his teeth together. The hybrid normally did not have tendencies like such. He frowned. Quite a few strange occurrences had been going on around his friend lately. He hoped that nothing was adversely affecting.

"Koenma…" ground out Hiei.

Koenma jerked back to look at him. "Well now, Hiei. You'll just have to wait a minute – we have a guest."

And he promptly hopped off of his chair and ran over to Kagome.

"Kagome Higurashi, I presume. I'm sorry I have not been able to meet you conscious, but things have been awfully busy here lately."

Kagome was distracted from gazing at the angry man across from the desk when Koenma began pumping her hand up and down and talking to her. That man looked so familiar to her, if he would just turn a little more to the side… Wait conscious?

"What do you mean conscious?"

Koenma stuttered to a halt in his greetings at this. "Didn't Yusuke tell you?"

Kagome turned icy eyes to her cousin. After that whole spiel about telling everything to each other he hadn't bothered to tell her of an event where she was unconscious and meeting new people? Oh, he so had payback coming.

Yusuke swallowed visibly and turned around nonchalantly. "We hadn't quite gotten to that part yet in the discussion."

"Yusuke Urameshi! After all that you said –"

Kagome's tirade was cut in half by one word.

"You."

"What?" She turned around at the venomous proclamation.

The man at the desk was looking at her, eyes narrowed.

"You."

Kagome took a step back from him. She had never seen such anger before. It practically had an aura of its own, swirling around him as it was.

"Yusuke…"

"Hiei, what are you talking about? What's going on?"

Kagome's eyes widened as she got a good look at the man glaring at her. "It's you," she whispered.

Yusuke threw up his hands. "Ok, so you two know each other. We've established that. How the hell do you two know each other?"

All eyes were trained on the two, waiting for a response. Kurama's eyes were watching Hiei closely. The man was not acting normally. He kept clenching and releasing his hands. There was a slight tremble of his body that he was hiding from the others remarkably well. If he hadn't been so focused on Hiei, he wouldn't have even noticed it.

"He – You –" She didn't know who to address first. She decided to take the offensive. "How dare you invade my dreams!"

Astonished looks passed between the viewers of the budding argument.

"Me?" snarled Hiei. "You have been in my dreams, you damnable woman!"

Kagome gasped. "I don't even know how to invade dreams, you stupid demon."

"You lie!"

"I am not lying!" She twisted her head to Yusuke. "Tell him, Yusuke. You know as well as I do that I could never do something like that."

Yusuke stiffened. He was screwed now. He had wanted her to confide in him, but if he spilled her secret now, she would be too pissed off to even talk. Oh well. He was pretty sure that Hiei wouldn't be invading dreams without a reason – especially those of young, human females. He wasn't a lech, and he probably knew every possible thought that could be had with the help of the Jagan, so chances were he wouldn't be invading Kagome's head. But then again, Kagome had never met Hiei, so why would she invade his mind – if she could, that was. Yusuke stood there a minute debating.

His silence was damning.

"Yusuke!" shouted an outraged Kagome. "You're supposed to defend me!"

Hiei smirked. "So it is you, then. I should have hunted you down and gotten rid of you from the start. Then I wouldn't be having any of these problems."

Yusuke's face got red at hearing the threat from Hiei.

"You won't touch her, Hiei!"

Hiei smirked again and took a step towards her.

The Jagan flared.

Kagome jerked back as Hiei hissed with the pain. A purple glow radiated outwards from the bandanna covering his third eye.

He lifted murderous eyes to her frightened ones.

"It was you all along, then. You're the one trying to control the Jagan. I'll kill you where you stand, human."

Hiei unsheathed his sword. Yusuke leaned forward to stand in front of Kagome. Kurama lunged to stop Hiei.

The door banged open.

The room's occupants froze at the sudden interruption.

Ogre stumbled in, getting extremely nervous at the tension riding the air.

He looked around with wide eyes for a moment.

"What is it, Ogre?" shouted Koenma.

"Erm, Sir, an urgent package just arrived. It was bid to see you as soon as possible." The ogre held out a small white box, the size to hold a ring.

Koenma huffed and marched up to the ogre. Damn servants interrupting all the time.

He hurriedly grabbed the box and threw off the cap.

Everyone waited for something to be said. Koenma simply stood there and looked down at the box.

"Koenma," spoke up Kurama. "What is in the box?"

Yusuke went over and grabbed the box. He snarled at the contents.

Inside was the tip of a pinky, from the tip to the end of the nail, nicely trimmed and coated in a clear polish.


	12. Chapter 12

_**Ultimatum**_

_Chapter 12_

_Boxing King_

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Alrighty, got the next chapter out. Took a while, but I did it. Kind of long, too. :D I'm surprised more of you didn't think the worst possible thing, which it is, with the finger. Don't you remember who went missing and hasn't been noticed? Tsk, tsk. Anyways, Read and Enjoy. I'm hoping to get more reviews this time. ;P OH – does anyone know how to change the color on mediaminer? I put a hyperlink in the last chapter, and it made everything blue! How do I go in and edit the page or something? I'll try it again this time but just change the color of the link back to black. Maybe that'll work. http://boxingking-wordsofwisdomonwriting. and Enjoy! Thanks, BoxingKing

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The room was quiet, silent, watching, waiting.

Six pairs of eyes were trained on Yusuke, whose face was frozen in a snarl. The little box held something the detective sincerely did not like.

Kagome hesitantly spoke up first, figuring she had the best chance of not being chewed out as a by product of his anger.

"Yusuke." She waited until his chocolate eyes flicked to her own. "What is in the package, Yusuke?"

The room waited for an answer.

Yusuke clenched his teeth and flicked his eyes back to the front, studiously doing his best to ignore everyone around him.

He thrust his hand out in her vague direction. "Come see for yourself."

Kagome had a niggling feeling in the back of her head saying she definitely wouldn't like what Yusuke was holding out to her. However, she wouldn't just sit there, ignoring the challenge the box presented. If she chose to not walk up and confront, she would be seen as weak in the eyes of people she was trying to impress. This was supposed to be her new life. She had screwed it up enough already, what with suicide and running away, but maybe now she could salvage it.

She walked up and gingerly peered into the box.

"Oh my God!" Kagome violently turned around and clapped a hand over her mouth. She would not be sick. She would not be sick.

Her sudden reaction had the others moving forward, anxious to behold the horror in the small parcel.

Kagome heard the others alternately gasp and swear. She was too busy closing her eyes and trying to control her sudden gag reflex to watch them. God, she had seen enough. Enough violence to last her a life time. Enough body parts wrapped up in boxes.

"That's sick," mumbled Kuwabara. "Who would do that?"

She heard Kuwabara pacing the confines of the room. To her he perhaps seemed to be the most likely to freak out about the finger tip. Torture just wasn't something he could look at and not flinch. The rest had an edge, however, that said they saw this on a regular basis and could take it without flinching. It made her wonder about their shady pasts. Even her own cousin was not flinching.

She was not that brave.

Not anymore.

Kurama spoke up quietly. "I do not think that the most important question is who could do such a thing, Kuwabara. Needless enough to say, the list is extremely long. Yet the better question is to whom does the finger belong to?"

Kuwabara seized his mutterings at this thought. "God." He ran a hand through his hair. "I hadn't thought of that." He whirled to look at everyone.

"Who's could it be?" His faced was pinched with worry. A list of everyone close to him went through his mind. They weren't up to fighting off demons, not ones that would be so vicious as to perform torture. Hell, Yukina was even a demon and she didn't stand a chance.

Kurama shrugged.

Yusuke gave a strangled cry. "Keiko–"

A look of shock flittered across Kuwabara's face. "How do you know, Yusuke? How can you be sure it's – Keiko's?"

Yusuke pounded a fist into the wall. Plaster crumbled under his hand. "Because," he said, "Because, she was painting her fingernails before school." He thudded his arm weakly into the wall.

The hairs on the back of Kagome's neck stood up. She had met Keiko, however briefly at school. She had liked her, even though her personality had been almost the complete opposite of her own. It was happening just like before.

But, it couldn't be the same thing. It just couldn't. He – Naraku – he was… he wasn't here. He couldn't be here in the present, not with her. It had been five hundred years for him… Could he still be alive, still hurting people, just like before?

Kagome looked up, looking around at everyone else in the suddenly claustrophobic room.

Her gaze settled on the antagonizing man from before. Hiei, Yusuke had called him, Hiei. She decided to focus on him instead of the finger. Anything to not focus on that finger. On what it meant.

Hiei had a peculiar look on his face, like this scene was just as familiar for him as it was for her.

Their argument from before seemed to be forgotten for the time being. Kagome was glad. What the hell was she supposed to say to him, anyways? She had no idea why they were sharing dreams all of a sudden, and that flare of power from before…

It was troubling to say the least.

Would he really kill her? She hadn't thought the dreams were that much of a bother. Ok, so she had liked them. They were… different. They made her feel… appealing. Sexy. Wanted. She hadn't felt something like that since she and Inuyasha had spent time together in the past.

How screwed up was she that all she was thinking about were erotic dreams when there was a severed finger in a box?

Kagome decided it didn't matter. Anything was better than thinking of that finger, of thinking of other fingers just like it.

Ok, now she was back to the finger. She frantically tried to focus on the small demon in front of her.

He was cute, in a cruel kind of way. His eyes seemed to always be glaring, and their stark ruby color was too reminiscent of blood and violence for her tastes. But he did have interesting hair. Did it all stick up naturally, like curls, or did the man use massive amounts of hair gel? She figured it was probably natural, being as he didn't seem like the type to use hair products. But then again, he did wear a cape. It wasn't like jackets weren't in fashion. Kagome eyed the cape critically. It looked too plain to be a fashion statement – maybe it was so he could easily get to his sword. Yeah, that sounded more reasonable. His facial features were pronounced – strong chin, straight, aristocratic nose. All the better to look down at people, she supposed. He probably had lots of practice at that. She wondered whether his ears were pointy. Wonder what genetics those would point to, excusing the pun…

Kagome's eyes flicked to his ears, but froze as she met his eyes. She swallowed nervously. Apparently, he was done looking at the finger.

Now he seemed to just be more interested in glaring at her. Damn demon…

He narrowed his eyes.

Kagome practically snorted. Like she was gonna settle for that.

Her eyes practically went to slits. Let the bastard glare at her now.

He purposefully began to walk up to her.

Her eyes opened back up in shock. Good god, was he going to kill her now? Kagome frantically looked at Yusuke. What with her powers gone, there was no way she would be able to one-up the demon. She opened her mouth, ready to shout out to her pissed cousin.

"Don't," hissed the demon.

She reflexively closed her mouth, glancing back at the demon.

"What do you want? Come to kill me?" She forced her voice to be strong, but stayed relatively quiet. Everyone else was busy conferring without them, and she didn't really want that to change.

The little man gave a contemptuous snort. "If I wanted to kill you, woman, I wouldn't need to give you a warning. I've decided you pose no threat to me. I looked at you with the Jagan, and you have no spiritual energy whatsoever. You couldn't have controlled the Jagan."

Kagome stiffened. He certainly had nerve, saying she was no threat. If she ever got her powers back, she was gonna zap the little bastard just to show him.

He continued. "I want to know why you caused it to flare." He stared at her expectantly.

So what, she was just supposed to know things about something she'd never even heard of? Definitely not.

"How the hell should I know? I don't even know what a Jagan is anyways."

Hiei let out a snarl.

Kagome headed him off, not really wanting to talk about what else they seemed to share in common.

"Besides, don't you care about the finger? You knew her too, didn't you? Shouldn't you be over there planning things?"

Hiei looked down at her. "There is nothing to be done for her this second. And the plan is useless without knowing who to go after, which they do not. The woman will just die unless they find out." And this was what Hiei was waiting for. They were desperate enough to come crying to him, ready to give him whatever he wanted.

Of course, Kagome knew nothing of this. Her eyes had widened when Hiei had spoke of Keiko being killed. She didn't want that, especially since she could prevent it. Here, she finally might be able to redeem herself. She could lead them in the right direction. That was, if Naraku was even alive.

"You're right, Hiei. There is nothing you can do." A small smile graced her lips. "But there is something that I can do." She looked him in the eyes. "I know who is holding Keiko hostage."

Kagome whirled to tell all to Yusuke when a strong hand flicked her back around.

"What the hell are you doing, Hiei?"

Hiei practically spat out his question. "How the hell do you know who it is?"

She stiffened. "That, Hiei, is none of your business."

He closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down. He needed to be able to reason with this obstinate female if he had any chance of getting that favor from Koenma.

"You can't tell them."

"What are you, stupid? Of course I have to tell them. Keiko's life depends on it!"

Hiei's hand involuntarily tightened fractionally at the name. "I know that. They will get this information."

Kagome's eyes narrowed and her voice grew suspicious. "How?"

Hiei's eye twitched. "_I_ will tell them."

"If you know, why the hell are you sitting back here?"

"I'm waiting for them to ask."

"What the hell for?"

Hiei clenched his teeth. "That is no concern of yours, woman."

Kagome suddenly understood what the smaller demon was aiming to do. "You want them to owe you, don't you?" A triumphant smirk flitted across her face.

His hand clenched a bit tighter.

"Well, it won't work. I'm going to tell them."

Hiei swallowed convulsively. "What –" He paused, trying to keep his voice from rising. "What can I do so that you won't do that?"

Kagome looked at him, considering his worth.

"I'll give you a taste of your own medicine, Hiei. Owe me one."

"Get real. I'm not going to indebt myself to a mere human."

Kagome looked up, watching the remaining detectives come together. They were ready to find out that name.

"Decide now, Hiei. It looks like everyone is ready for that name."

Hiei ground his teeth.

"Yusuke?" Kagome sweetly asked.

"Fine," snarled Hiei. "I'll owe you a favor."

"Anything I want?" she hurriedly bit out.

"Yes," he practically hissed.

"Good. It's all yours, Hiei. Just make sure they know now."

Yusuke strode up to the couple. "Hiei, unhand Kagome this minute."

Hiei released his hand, and Kagome resisted the urge to rub her arm. She'd probably bruise, but she'd be damned before she would give the demon the satisfaction of having hurt her.

Koenma strode forward. "Ok, Hiei. You have your deal. Give us the name of the demon behind this. Keiko's life is at risk. We have no more time."

Hiei gave a satisfied smirk.

"The demon that used the spider emblem five hundred years ago went by the name of Naraku. He was a filthy half-breed trying to take over all demon existence."

Koenma frowned. "How have we not heard of him before?"

Hiei slightly shrugged. "He disappeared right before he was about to complete his goal. He seems the likely suspect."

"So what if the guy used spider. Big deal, so do others. How the hell do you know this is that same demon?" asked Yusuke.

Hiei focused on the detective. "He would send calling cards of the territories he was about to over – severed body parts of the leader's mate."

Yusuke swallowed. "Did they all die?"

Hiei knew who the detective was referring to. "Yes, Yusuke, they all died. The mate would be slaughtered at the beginning of the battle with the leader, just to show them how much stronger he was."

Yusuke closed his eyes and turned away from the group.

"We can't let that happen. We have to find her first."

Kurama broke his silence, looking at Koenma. "Koenma, what progress have you made on the amulet found on the lesser demon? Perhaps we could use it to track Keiko."

Koenma looked up at Kurama, shaking his head slowly. "We have been trying since we have gotten it to put it to use. We haven't been able to trace the demon in the least."

"Koenma, we have to do something. We can't just sit here. Do you have anything on this demon?" Yusuke turned tired eyes to Koenma.

Botan spoke up. "Koenma, we can trace Keiko." All eyes turned to the grim reaper. "We've done it before, set our system to the specific waves of a human. Keiko should be easy; we had to use her to bring Yusuke back. She hasn't – she hasn't passed over, yet. We would know if she had, so we can track her energy waves."

"Botan, I could kiss you right now." She blushed at the attention.

"That's what I'm here for. I'll go get a communicator." She whisked out of the room as the team was once again revitalized, ready for action. A plan began to form.

No one noticed the minuscule spider sitting atop Koenma's desk, placid for days. Eight little eyes eagerly trained on the group blinked once. What a plan it would be.


	13. Chapter 13

_**Ultimatum**_

_Chapter 13_

_Boxing King_

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Cool stuff. Slowly cruising along the story. Sorry this one took a while, been busy with school and work. The story of everyone's life. Ah well. Read and Enjoy. And pretty please review. The more reviews I get, the faster these babies come out due to the motivation. :D Also, check out my blog for random comments and updates on the story in between chapters. http://boxingking-wordsofwisdomonwriting. mouth descended on hers viciously. Kagome didn't care. She pushed back with just as much force. Her tongue ran along his lips, demanding entrance. His snarl of acquiescence was muted as his tongue eagerly thrust into her mouth. Kagome let out a low moan, her hands moving up to tangle in his hair. His hands went to the small of her back, jerking her against his body. His erection was nestled perfectly in the v of her legs, rubbing pointedly against her.

Kagome bit lightly down on his lip, tugging slightly. With a growl, he jerked away, her teeth lightly slicing his inner lip. He drew back sharply, blood welling in his mouth.

His chest heaved with his sharp intakes of breath. His eyes were slits as he tried to take back control of the situation. His eyes focused on her swollen lips, rosy and trembling as she did her best to breathe normally. Hiei convulsively swallowed, looking at her, swallowing a trail of his own blood.

With a low moan, he moved to her neck. He hovered over the pulse, enjoying the sensation of the rapid beat against his lips. He let his lips fall, sucking delicately. His teeth grazed flesh slightly as she let her neck fall back, giving him better access.

Shifting his stance slightly, hands moving up her back, Hiei trailed down to her collarbone. He ran his tongue along the bone, moving lower.

Kagome fisted her hands in his hair and pulled him back up to face her. She let her eyes focus on his for just a moment before pulling him down for a kiss. She started gentle, lips pressed lightly against his. He increased the pressure, until his teeth were pushing painfully against her lips. A small whimper escaped her.

Hiei let out a ragged moan, roughly grabbing her, and forcing her against the wall. He knelt down slightly, putting his face flush against her chest. He firmly grabbed a nipple through the fabric of her shirt with his teeth, pulling slightly. He let his tongue roll across the nipple, feeling it tighten and peak in his mouth.

He let his hands move up under the t-shirt, moving along the curves of her waist. He slowly moved one hand over her other breast, lightly circling the nipple. His fingers began a slow rotation, and Kagome's soft moan filled the room. Moving his mouth away from her nipple, he lifted the shirt the rest of the way up in a quick motion, tossing it over her head.

He stood staring for just a moment, looking at the beauty before him. Kagome held up her hand as an invitation, waiting for him to come to her.

He leaned forward, eyes rolled up to watch her reaction as he took her nipple into his mouth once more. His other hand smoothed down her soft stomach, stopping at the edge of her jeans. Not daring to break eye contact, Kagome froze and waited for his next move.

His fingers flicked the button open with a swift twist. His fingers hooked beneath the rim of her jeans, swiftly moving down. He slid a finger along her folds, conscious of the wetness slicking his finger.

He moved forward slightly, and slipped a finger up inside of her.

Kagome cried out at the sensation.

A purple light filled the room, brightening painfully.

-----------------

Kagome jerked awake with a wrench of fear. Her room was silent, shrouded in darkness. The only thing she could her was the tick of the clock. Her previous excitement was overcome with the new ominous sensation that was tightening her gut with apprehension.

As far she could tell, the rest of the house was silent. The clock said one in the morning – surely, by now, everyone else would be in bed. Everyone had rendezvoused at Yusuke's house, where there would be no interruptions from the outside world. Her aunt was out drinking again, and wouldn't stumble in until sometime in the afternoon today.

They had been planning strategies when she had begged off and gone to bed. It hadn't been that much of a bother for her to leave the group – her contributions could be summed at as nil.

She shifted to the edge of the bed, throwing the covers back. Her gut was one tight sensation. In the past, fighting demons had given her an instinct. In no way was it as honed as Inuyasha's, or even Sango's or Miroku's, but it was still there. She had slowly been learning to go with her instincts when they had been attacked for the last time. The reason they had been taken was quite simply due to the fact that she had not gone by her instincts.

She would not make that mistake this time.

Primal as it was, against all the logic screaming in her head, she would follow it. Surely, nothing could be going wrong right now, what with three demons and two additional fighters in the house, ready for anything. The two demons had an edge that Inuyasha had not had, young as he was. They didn't seem to the type to let something slip past them.

Slowly, with a creak of the floor boards, Kagome stood. Straining her ears, trying to hear whatever could be giving her this feeling, she slipped a hand beneath her mattress. Her hand closed upon the butcher knife she had swipped from Yusuke's kitchen. With her powers gone for the time being, she had felt it of the utmost importance to have some kind of protection.

Kagome silently moved towards the door. While not the best at silent attacks, she could at least hold back from making obvious sound. Of course, it was probably a demon, which probably meant they'd hear her anyways.

Oh well. Not like there was a whole hell of a lot she could do if that was the case.

She cracked the door slowly, doing her best to muffle any of the tell-tale squeaks. The hallway was empty, light off and all doors closed.

Hesitating for a moment, she decided to start her quick search in the kitchen – the room closest to the front door. She wasn't going to try opening any of the bedroom doors first. Most likely, she would wake everyone up. That thought gave her pause. Why would everyone be sleeping at Yusuke's? And where would they be sleeping? She and Yusuke shared a bedroom, so for him to not be there, he would most likely have to be up. It wasn't like he'd crash on the couch. That couch was the most uncomfortable thing in the world.

Two bedroom doors, one occupied by her, and a bathroom – where exactly was everyone?

Her gut gave a slight twinge. Ignoring the questions, assuming there was a logical reason and she'd get to it eventually, Kagome continued on to the kitchen. A faint light began to shine the closer she got, emanating from around the corner.

Kagome edged up, slowly creeping towards the corner. She crouched slightly, and adjusted her grip on the knife. Her head was in turmoil: half of her was freaking out, screaming about how she was not good enough to fight anyone; the other was calm, calculated and empty. She had given herself over to the instinct, to that primitive survival gene that was slowly being bred out of humans. If she listened at all to that logical, human self, she would lose it. Her hands would begin to shake, growing sweaty, losing their grip on the knife. And she wouldn't be able to go around that corner. Kagome tuned out the logic, letting that screaming voice grow faint in her own mind.

She slowly edged her head around the corner, trying to see the intruder before it saw her. A figure was sitting at the table, hunched over slightly, long dark hair covering its back.

A niggling little idea came to the back of her head, but Kagome ignored it, ignoring the logic associated with it.

The intruder turned around, eyes hunting her own, pinning her to the wall she was crouched against. Red met brown.

Her head was screaming, shouting wordless sounds at her. Her grip on the knife loosened, palms becoming sweaty.

NO!

NO! She would not let this happen again! Kagome clutched the knife harder, digging the ridges into her palm, letting the pain bring her back to some semblance of a reality.

Kagome let her lips curl back, baring her teeth.

He smiled, lips set in a sardonic grin. "Ah, Kagome. It has been a while, hasn't it."

"Naraku."

He wagged a finger in her direction. "Now Kagome, you sound less than thrilled to see me. And me, back from the dead." He raised his hands up. "Do I get no appreciation?"

"What do you want?"

He gave a slight chuckle. "You are learning. You grasped the situation quickly this time. Not, what am I doing here, but what do I want." His eyes narrowed slightly, dropping the charming façade. "You know there is no bargaining with me, Kagome. No reasoning. It's how you ended up back here, all alone, trying to kill yourself."

The arm holding the knife gave an involuntary jerk. Naraku barked out a laugh. "However did you manage to fail that as well?"

"What – do – you – want?" Stay focused. Don't let him distract.

"I have something that you want, that that pathetic group you are hanging around wants. And you, dear Kagome, have something that I want." He gave her a penetrating look. "And even after all these years, I still have not been able to find out how you escaped with it."

Kagome looked at him. She could not give him the Jewel. Would not give him the Jewel. Just like she hadn't all those years ago.

"You know, Kagome, if you had given me the Jewel, none of this would have had to happen. Your friends from the past would still be alive. Inuyasha would still be alive." He paused, letting what he was saying sink in. "Do you remember how he died Kagome? Calling your name."

She could hear screaming in the back of her head again. Her hand was beginning to shake. She could hear him calling to her. She could hear it all, just like it was yesterday.

He would still be alive if it hadn't been for the Jewel.

"Are you willing to sacrifice them again, Kagome. You have these new people in your life. You have family here. Your mother, Kagome. Can you imagine her screams of pain. And your little brother. He would cry like the child that he is, squealing in pain. I can taste the blood on my hands, just like I did all those years ago." He raised his finger to his mouth and slowly slid it all the way into his mouth and pulled out, sucking on it the entire time.

"And what of your cousin? How dear is he to you, Kagome? Is he worth the Jewel?" Naraku's eyes took on a sharp glint. "And your new lover, the halfbreed. You always were attracted to them the most. I bet I would have the most wonderful time breaking him, piece by piece. He's so… _strong._" It was like he tasted the word with his mouth, thinking of all that it could mean to him in the torture room. How much pleasure he could garner from one with so much physical and mental strength.

Kagome didn't try denying he was her lover. It didn't matter to her what he thought of Hiei. Instead, Kagome gripped the knife in her hand firmly, and lunged at him. She was energy contained as she threw herself at the demon in front of her, pointing the blade at his heart. She let her fury and pain pour out of her in a fierce cry of battle.

His eyes widened as she flew across the kitchen.

She had him.

She had the bastard.

She missed.

Inches from his heart, he grabbed her wrist and twisted his body, pulling her along with her own momentum. He threw her into the table.

Kagome landed back first, arm held at a painful angle above her head. Naraku landed above her, holding her still with his weight. He gripped her wrist harder, forcing her to let go of the knife from pain.

Naraku was panting from exertion and the adrenaline of the battle. "Tsk, tsk, Kagome. You didn't think you were fast enough to beat me, did you? Demon, remember?"

"Half, you bastard," she hissed out.

"Now, Kagome, is that any way to talk to your lover?"

Her eyes widened. What the hell was he talking about?

Naraku's eyes shifted from red to brown, a soft, loving brown that was intimately familiar to her.

His hair was still black and long, but its texture changed, going from hard and thin to soft and thick. His nose arched a little bit more, showing the aristocratic blood flowing through his veins, lips going full and pouty. His skin grew a little bit darker, holding a slight tan, present from constantly being outside.

"Kagome…" came the hesitant question. "What's going on?"

Kagome's voice was but a whisper as she struggled past her suddenly tight throat. "Inuyasha…"

A soft smile flittered across his lips. "Of course." He lifted a hand and brushed a few strands of hair away from her face.

"You know, Kagome, I haven't said it in a while."

She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to prevent the tears that threatened to fall. "Don't. Please don't."

Kagome knew his smile would be wilting in confusion, not understanding the situation right now.

"Why not?" She could hear the surprise lacing his voice. "You know I'll always love you Kagome. I love you Kagome."

Tears squeezed out, slowly falling one by one. A sob escaped her throat.

"Kagome?" cried an alarmed Inuyasha. "What's wrong? What happened?" He gathered her up in his arms and held her. "I'm here for you Kagome. I'll always be here for you. Tell me what's wrong. Let me help you."

Kagome looked into his earnest eyes. "Inu…Inuyasha… Oh, God, I love you, Inuyasha. Please believe me!" She threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, trying to hold onto him.

"Shh… Kagome, I know you love me. It'll be ok. It'll all be ok. We'll defeat Naraku, and then we can be together."

Kagome stilled at the sound of that name. She came back to herself with a jolt. Slowly, she turned her head and looked into loving, brown eyes. "Inuyasha…?"

"I love you, Kagome," he whispered tenderly. He ran a finger across her cheek, wiping away the tears still trickling down. He leaned forward and laid a gentle kiss on her cheek. When she didn't protest, he moved and slowly laid a gentle kiss on her lips. He drew back, a soft smile of wonderment on his face.

"You bitch!" came a hissing snarl.

Kagome jerked at the sudden intrusion upon their moment.

Her eyes flicked to the doorway, into a different pair of red eyes.

"Hiei…" came her horrified whisper.

"I wondered how you knew about Naraku. I knew something was different about you. To think, we let you in on all of our plans just like you were one of us." He finished speaking and stood waiting in the doorway, waiting for some sort of acknowledgement on her part.

"No. No, Hiei, that isn't what's going on."

"Isn't it, Kagome?" Kagome turned horrified eyes towards Inuyasha. His voice had gotten deeper, containing a sinister twist. "What's going on then Kagome? Are you not fraternizing with the enemy?" The voice was different, the face changed back to Naraku's, but the eyes, they were still Inuyasha's. He kept his back to Hiei, only letting her see those eyes.

"You see, my dear, everything comes back to haunt us."

Kagome heard the cold ring of steel as Hiei drew his sword.

"No…" she whispered. Denying what, she didn't know, but denying something.

With a sudden jerk, Naraku stood and whirled, dragging her with him. She felt the sudden cold touch of a knife at her throat, felt it barely prick her skin, felt the blood beginning to swell and trickle down.

Kagome could see Hiei, still at the doorway, sword drawn and prepared to take that final step and attack.

"Now, now hybrid. Do you really trust the situation to be only what you could see at the doorway?" Kagome shuddered at the flat voice, perfectly willing to kill her to save himself.

Hiei simply stayed quiet, waiting at the doorway.

"I know all about, halfbreed. I know of your speed, your prowess, and the Jagan. I also know how to get out of this situation. Already, your reinforcements are on the way, attracted by your call. They will be distracted the closer they get to this house. I have a few… traps … laid out, waiting to be tripped. I'm sure your friends will oblige me."

"It doesn't matter, Naraku. You won't be able to escape this room, let alone me."

"Such confidence in such a small package. Is that the way you like your men, Kagome? Overconfident? Do you think that if I took on some of those traits you would like me with the same vigor?" He looked Hiei in the eyes. "Watch how you use her, Hiei. She is the key to saving the pathetic human I have in my grasp."

"Try and escape, Naraku. I could use the entertainment."

Kagome felt Naraku tense behind her, and she widened her eyes, hoping to give Hiei the early warning.

He threw her at the smaller demon and ran.

Hiei swerved around her flying body and lunged at Naraku. He raised his sword to slice through his back, inches from his target. Kagome knocked into him, tackling him to the floor. Naraku lunged out the kitchen window and disappeared. Hiei forcefully threw her off of him, and Kagome slammed into the wall. She lay there, stunned for a moment, trying to regain her bearings.

Hiei turned from facing the window, trying to find Naraku in the darkness.

He stalked up to Kagome and grabbed her around the throat, slamming her into the wall.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" he shouted into her face. His eyes were beginning to glow purple as his anger and frustration leaked out.

Kagome's face turned red as she tried to breathe past the chokehold.

"HIEI! What the fuck do you think you're doing? Put Kagome down!" Yusuke stood in the doorway, staring the smaller demon down.

Hiei released his grip and Kagome collapsed to the floor, trying to suck in air as fast as she could.

"She is a traitor!" Hiei pointed at her with his sword.

"What the fuck are you talking about, Hiei? Kagome isn't a traitor."

"She was kissing up to Naraku in the kitchen, Yusuke. I almost killed the bastard when she stopped me." He glared down at Kagome to make his point.

Kurama and Kuwabara framed Yusuke in the doorway.

"I'm sure there is an explanation, Hiei," spoke Kurama.

"No," stated Yusuke. "There doesn't need to be an explanation. Hiei is mistaken about what he saw. There is no way Kagome would have done what you said, Hiei."

Hiei sneered at the Detective. "So now you stand by her. You take her word over mine. Me, who has fought by your side for years. You don't know what she has been up to over the years, Yusuke. I'm sure she has changed from that docile, weak human you once loved."

Yusuke lunged at the smaller man, tackling him to the floor. His right fist hit Hiei in the face, swinging his head the side. Hiei grunted and head butt Yusuke, sending him reeling back. A swift kick to the gut had Yusuke on his back. Hiei ran at him, preparing to continue the battle when Kagome spoke, stilling everyone in the room.

"He's right, Yusuke. I am a traitor. And I should be punished as such."


	14. Chapter 14

_**Ultimatum**_

_Chapter 14_

_Boxing King_

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

The fire had dwindled down to nothing, soft glowing embers amongst the ash. It barely lit the small hollow in the trees that the group had holed up in. 

Kagome was asleep in Inuyasha's arms when she felt it – a sharp twist in her gut. Her eyes flicked open, looking around the camp. There was no noise except for the odd rustle of the trees by a slight breeze. She looked over at Miroku and Sango, tucked together in the same bedroll. The two slumbered peacefully. Shippo nestled deeper in her arms, burying his cold nose under her arm. She could feel the slow, even breathing of the hanyou behind her.

Kagome let a slight frown overtake her lips. Why was she awake? She was suddenly pumped full of adrenaline, just like in a fight. No one else seemed to be aware of anything. Had it been a dream?

She tried to relax in Inuyasha's arms, settling in a bit more firmly. She had a niggling feeling of doubt that it couldn't have been a dream. Yet, surely, if something was wrong, then the fighters around her would know. Not to mention the demon sleeping in her arms and the one sequestered in between Miroku and Sango. Even Inuyasha in his human form noticed more than she did. 

Then why was she the only one awake? 

Kagome let her eyes scan the clearing again, trying to take in more details. After a few moments, she gave up. It wasn't like she knew what to look for. As far she could tell, there was nothing hiding in the surrounding foliage. Slowly, she craned her neck upwards, checking out the treetops. In the Feudal Era, she was used to things jumping down upon them. Her own Inuyasha slept up there – it wasn't a new concept for her. Yet, nothing was up there either.

Should she wake everyone else? Did a nasty feeling in her gut count as warning? It wasn't like a jewel shard, either. That came more as a warm, fuzzy feeling in her head.

Kagome hesitated. Inuyasha rarely slept in human form, doing his best to stay alert with dampened senses. It was even rarer for him to cuddle up to her. She was loath to give that up. It meant a lot that he could hold her. She still held hope for their relationship. Kikyou was becoming less and less of a hang up for him. With the end of the battle in sight, Kagome was looking forward to some time together, in peace, without interruption.

She let out a soft sigh. It was probably nothing. She had never felt anything before anyone else before now, and there was no reason that that would have changed. Kagome firmly leaned back against Inuyasha, closing her eyes, and doing her best to ignore the tightening of her gut.



She jerked at a soft click that seemed to echo in the small clearing. She cast wide eyes wildly about, trying to find whatever had made the noise. 

"Inu… Inuyasha…" she whispered. There was no doubt in her mind: someone was out there. "Inuyasha," she said a bit more forcefully. She sat up, shaking Shippo as she did so. She twisted to shake his arm. "Wake up, Inuyasha."

She anxiously watched as his eyes slowly opened. She stood, spilling Shippo to the ground. He awoke with a soft grunt. 

"Inuyasha, wake up, now!" Her voice was beginning to rise in panic. She didn't watch to see him wake, instead turning to rouse Sango and Miroku. 

An arrow pierced her shoulder as she took her first step.

She cried out. It was this sound that jerked everyone awake much better than her quiet calls had.

Kagome staggered and reached a hand out towards the arrow. Blood was slow to fall with the shaft stuck fast in the muscle. She bit back a whimper and tried to move towards her bag and bow.

She didn't get very far. There was a man crouched in front of her yellow backpack, a wicked blade held in front of him.

She whirled to see the rest of the clearing. Sango and Miroku were being held down by more men, blades resting at against their necks. Kirara's limp form was being tossed into a sack. She turned to look behind her. Shippo was in much the same situation as Kirara. And Inuyasha. Silence had surrounded her as she took in the situation, adrenaline and fear blocking everything but the wild thump of her heart. It left her as she looked at him. 

He was struggling wildly, cursing all the men pulling him down. There was one on each limb, doing their best to collapse him to the ground. Kagome tried to call out as a fifth man appeared behind him, swinging a club viciously at his head, but her voice caught in her throat in horror as a loud crack resounded throughout the clearing.

Silence this time as the prisoners were gagged. Kagome fell to her knees, tears falling from pain and fear. One man walked up to her, a triumphant smirk on his face.

"Give up easily, Miko, and we'll bind your wound." 

Kagome simply stared at him. 

They were human. They had been overtaken by humans. 



It was why the demons had not noticed their scents – they were already surrounded by the smell of humans, and with both of their noses buried, they had not noticed the small change in the clearing.

The man squatted before her. "Naraku has paid us handsomely to fetch you and your group, Miko. He even provided us with the nice little information of your pal's human date. We know we have a time limit, so stalling to try and allow him to change back won't work."

Kagome simply gaped at him. Naraku was behind this all. They were going to die.

Kagome lurched to her feet and tried to move away from the man in front of her. 

She didn't get far, as one of the men grabbed her hands and twisted roughly up. He swiftly knotted rope around her wrists, neglectful of the arrow sticking out of her shoulder.

The leader moved to stand in front of her. "You shouldn't have tried to run," he hissed. He grabbed the arrow and yanked it out cruelly. She cried out as the point sliced more of her arm coming out.

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"What the fuck are you talking about, Kagome?" snarled Yusuke. He turned to glare at his cousin, letting the full force of his brown eyes trap her.

Kagome swallowed, then continued on forcefully. "I – I am a traitor, Yusuke."

Everyone simply stared at her. Silence filled the room, perpetuated only by the harsh panting of the two men in front of her. Kagome resolutely avoided the crimson pair of eyes. She didn't feel up to the accusation and contempt that she knew would be present there.

Finally, Kurama spoke up. Yusuke seemed unable to reconcile what Kagome was saying with what he wanted to be hearing.

"What do you mean, Kagome?"

"I… I stopped Hiei from stopping Naraku. He had a killing blow, and… I – I stopped him."

She looked Kurama in eye as she responded to his question. She could feel the antagonism of everyone around her.

"Why, Kagome? Why?" croaked out Yusuke. His voice was hoarse as he restrained himself from shouting. 

"I couldn't let him kill him, Yusuke."

"So we gathered," Kurama drily uttered. "But _why_?"

Kagome looked as Yusuke, beseeching him. "I couldn't let Hiei kill him, Yusuke." Her eyes began to fill with tears. She fought to keep them from running over.

"Why the fuck would you want to do that, Kagome?" exploded Yusuke. "Naraku is a BASTARD! He has Keiko, Kagome. KEIKO!" He began waving his hands around in rage. "He sent her finger in a box! Why the hell couldn't you let Hiei kill him, Kagome?"

She lost the fight, and the tears began cascading down her face, fogging her vision. "Not Naraku, Yusuke. Inuyasha."

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He threw her down violently, letting her knees take the beating with her hands tied behind her back. 

"Look at them, Kagome. Are you prepared to give them up?"

Kagome raised horror-filled eyes to the sight laid out before her. She was in a dungeon, surrounded by stricken prisoners that cowered at the light, and screamed at Naraku. Before her were her two best friends. They were chained next to each other, close together, but far enough that their desperate hands couldn't touch in shared fear.

Kagome swallowed back a cry. It would only feed Naraku's sick tendencies. 

"Where is the Jewel, Kagome?"

She stayed quiet, kneeling. She alternated between the wide eyes of her comrades. They were resolute in the face of danger, knowing that they might not get out of this one.

She could never tell him where the Jewel was. She had the entire thing now. Not long before they had been captured, they had snuck into Naraku's fortress and taken his shards right from under the proverbial nose. The only thing that had allowed them to sneak in and take the shards had been his own hubris. They still hadn't been strong enough at the time to take on Naraku and win. He had been taking over different leaders, absorbing their bodies and adding them to his power. They had been hoping with the Jewel shards all in their control that most of the lesser followers that he had had would leave, and most of his own power would be depleted. Apparently, it hadn't worked.

Naraku snared his hand in her hair and jerked her up. "Tell me where it is now, Kagome, or suffer my wrath."

Kagome could do nothing more than look at him. 

Naraku's beady eyes bored into her own, trying to will out her secrets. "You reek of fear, Miko." He threw her to the ground again.

"Who do you choose, Kagome? Who would like me to kill first?"

Kagome rose to her knees, frantically shaking her head. "No, Naraku, please don't! Don't kill them."

He bared his teeth at her in a semblance of a smile. "The Jewel or their lives?"

"Don't do it, Kagome!" shouted Sango. "Don't give in to him! Don't listen to his threats!" Naraku casually backhanded her.

"Now, now, Kagome. You wouldn't be so foolish as to listen to her, would you?"

Kagome slumped to the ground, eyes brimming with tears. "I can't give you the Jewel, Naraku," she whispered.

"What was that Kagome? I couldn't hear you." 

"I can't give you the Jewel," she muttered a bit more loudly. Her voice held conviction, but she couldn't bring herself to speak any louder against the silence in the dungeon. 

"What was that, _Kagome_? I couldn't hear you! The demon slayer or the monk?"

Kagome began to cry, tears falling in two straight lines down her face, not giving her the boon of fogging her vision.

"No…" she whispered. 

"FINE! I will decide!" He slammed his hand against Sango's forehead, keeping her head against the wall, straining her neck.

"NO!" screamed Miroku. "Sango! No, please! Give him the Jewel, Kagome!" he turned frantic eyes towards Kagome. "Please, Kagome! Please – not Sango! SANGO!" He ended on that anguished cry as Naraku slit her throat, letting the blood slide onto his extended hand. The exterminator stayed silent throughout her death. Miroku hung limp in his chains, staring blindly ahead.

Kagome began rocking on the floor. "No, no, no, no, no."

Naraku's foot lashed out, hitting her squarely in the face. She fell back, blood pouring from her nose.

"It was all your fault, Kagome. If you had simply given me the Jewel, none of this would have had to happen."

Kagome focused on Naraku. 

"The monk blames you, Kagome. You let his love die simply because you wouldn't give up the Jewel. How can you live with yourself? Letting others die like that."

Kagome looked at Miroku. She looked at her friend, chained next to his dead lover. "I'm sorry, Miroku," she whispered. "I'm so sorry." Miroku closed his eyes, hiding the sight before him.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Who the hell is Inuyasha?" snarled Yusuke. "I highly doubt that Hiei would confuse Naraku with someone else. Or not notice you sucking face with someone else."

Kagome flinched. "Please don't say it like that, Yusuke," she whispered.

"How many people have you fucked, Kagome? You fucking the bad guys now?"

Kagome's jaw dropped.

"Yusuke!" spoke a shocked Kurama. 

"Chill out, Yusuke," demanded Kuwabara. "There is no need to be so vulgar."

"No! Was Hiei right, Kagome? Have you changed so much in the last couple of years that I don't know you? Is this the guy your family was talking about?"

Kagome's lower lip trembled as she fought the verbal assault. "I have not slept with _anybody_, Yusuke."

"Then – who – the fuck – is he – Kagome?"

Kagome thought of how to sum up Inuyasha in just one phrase without sounding like an idiot. First love sounded too… girlish, and immature. 

"He was my Keiko, Yusuke. And I would do for him what you are doing for Keiko now."

This gave Yusuke pause, while he considered what she said.

"How do you come to love the enemy, Kagome?" This quiet question came from Kuwabara. The confusion on his face revealed how much he didn't understand the situation. Kagome seemed innocent to him, not the type to fall in love with the asshole bad guy.

"Oh, Kuwabara, he wasn't the enemy." Kuwabara took in her earnest expression and relaxed somewhat. He believed her.

"Fine," gritted out Yusuke. "If he's not the enemy, explain to me how you ended up kissing who Hiei saw as Naraku?"

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Let me demonstrate, Kagome, just what it will be like. As you watch, think about how this will happen to him next if you don't give me what I want."

Kagome was strapped to a chair, once again in the dungeon. Her head was strapped to the backboard. Naraku was making sure she couldn't look away, knowing she wouldn't be able to simply close her eyes and will away the images before her.

Naraku held up a struggling Shippo. He was crying, gagged and tied up. His little eyes frantically met Kagome's, begging her to save him.

Naraku gripped the back of his neck and slowly began unwinding the rope. "Wouldn't want any contaminants getting in, now would we, Kagome?" He looked at her, letting his words sink in. "Do you wonder what becomes of the souls, Kagome? Just like that clay bitch Kikyou eats souls, so do I. Yet, it is more than that, as well. I absorb everything about them. I take in their body, and replenish my own. I take in their power, and increase my own. I take in their souls, and it's just like a shard."

Kagome simply looked at him. She knew begging would do nothing. Her words only served to add to his pleasure, intensifying her pain. There was nothing she could do but to give him the Jewel. And she couldn't do that, even if it killed her.

She watched, trying and failing to look away from Shippo's eyes.

The rope fell the ground, and Shippo frantically flailed his arms around, trying to escape the inevitable. 

Naraku wrapped both hands around his tiny neck and jerked him against his chest.

At first, nothing happened. Kagome watched as Shippo struggled. And then, his eyes widened as his back sunk the tiniest bit into Naraku's stomach. Naraku removed a hand momentarily and removed the gag stuffed in his mouth.

Shippo's screams filled the small chamber. As fast as he could suck in air he screamed. His small hands scrabbled at Naraku's stomach as he was sucked backwards into him. 

Kagome lurched in the chair, trying to get to the small kit. Naraku simply looked at her and smiled.

Shippo's stomach descended into Naraku. His arms and legs stuck out like some perverse puppet from Naraku's gut. Naraku continued to shove him down. Slowly, his legs sunk down, merging seamlessly into Naraku. Then his arms, struggling until just the fingertips showed. Finally, just his head was left, and Naraku had one palm on the top of his hair. 



He squeezed out one word amidst all the pain. "Kagome…" It sounded like more of a gurgle as his mouth went down. Kagome looked into his eyes, her own dry, as Naraku succeeded in absorbing the rest of Shippo.

She looked up into Naraku's eyes, watching them change from green back to their normal red. 

Even if it killed some part of her.

"Well, Kagome, what's the verdict?"

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Well, Kagome?" Yusuke stood, waiting for an explanation.

Hiei continued looking on in contempt, arms crossed across his chest. He was getting the confrontation he wanted, but for some reason there was a seed of unease in him. Had it really been more than what he had seen? Why the hell would Naraku tell him that? 

Kagome looked around the room. What should she say? Should she tell them everything? Would they believe her now, with damning evidence seemingly before their eyes?

Kagome decided that it was time to share her story.

"It… it all began three years ago."

"NO!" Yusuke slammed a fist into the wall, breaking the wallboard. "Don't give me some bullshit story now, Kagome. Tell me how the fuck a demon got on the premises without us knowing, and how you were practically fucking him on the kitchen table!"

Kagome turned wide eyes towards the increasingly violent Yusuke.

"I have no idea how he got inside this house without _any of you_ noticing until it was too late."

Yusuke's eye twitched as he debated whether to believe her or not.

"There is no way that demon got inside this house without help, Kagome. We were outside, keeping watch, expecting him to pull something." This came from the level-headed Kurama. Kagome simply looked at him.

"How did you not sense the demon from before, from the alley? Kuwabara told me all about that. How come the same situation cannot apply here?" This gave everyone pause as they considered what she was saying.

"I woke up for some reason, and I decided to take a quick look around the house. I had no idea where any of you were. I came upon Naraku in the kitch–"



"HA!" interrupted Yusuke. "So you admit it was Naraku!"

"Let her speak, Yusuke." This surprisingly came from Hiei. He was watching the miko with serious eyes.

She defiantly raised her chin, gaining courage from the truth finally coming out.

"I found Naraku in the kitchen. I tried to fight him, but I wasn't… strong enough. He tackled me, and showed me just what could happen if I don't do what he wants."

"He wanted a kiss?" asked Kuwabara.

Kagome looked at him askance. "No, Kuwabara."

Hiei was looking at her closely, watching her reaction. "What did he show you?"

Kagome looked away from everyone, trying to gather her emotions. "He showed me Inuyasha."

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Naraku let her lay there on the dungeon floor. He knew without a doubt that there was nothing she could do to stop him. She had tried fighting, and her attempt had been worthless.

Slowly, Naraku dragged Inuyasha into the room. He struggled, flinging chains at his captor. But he was too weak. It had been a month since they had been captured, and Inuyasha was once again human.

Inuyasha was cursing Naraku as he struggled, threatening everything he could think if he could only get out of the damning chains. Kagome was numb as she looked on. 

"Kagome," snarled Inuyasha. "Don't do it. Don't give him what he wants!"

Her lower lip trembled as she fought the tears threatening to fall. His name came out as a whisper. "Inuyasha…"

"This is what we planned for, Kagome. This-" Naraku casually backhanded Inuyasha, quieting his vehement speech. 

"Now, now, Kagome. I already told you not to listen to that demon slayer. Dare I need to say it again?"

Kagome turned wide eyes towards Naraku.

Inuyasha spoke again.



"I love you, Kagome." She jerked her eyes back to his. "You came back to me after fifty years, fifty years after Kikyou died, Kagome. Whatever happens here, we will find each other again. I swear it."

Naraku sneered down at Kagome. "How touching this little gathering is. Do you imagine that he will be reincarnated, that you will still find someone to love?"

Kagome fought to keep the hope of such a truth off of her face.

"But Kagome, remember, I eat their souls."

"Oh, God," she whispered, horrified.

"No, Kagome, not God. Not God."

"Kagome," spoke Inuyasha, demanding her attention. "You will get through this. I promise."

"Like he promised you his soul? Do not trust this pathetic excuse of a demon's word, Miko."

Kagome turned towards Naraku, let him see the desolation seep into her eyes, and finally went numb. She fell back to the floor, and let the inevitable occur, knowing she could not stop it, but that the Jewel was safe. She let him kill a very vital part of her.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Yusuke's lip was curled back in disgust. "He absorbed him, just like that. And you let him?"

Kagome's eyes widened in shock before they crumpled with hurt. "It wasn't like I could stop him, Yusuke. I had tried before."

"So he was after the Jewel of the Shikon Jewel…" spoke Kurama. His eyes weren't focused on anyone in the room as he continued to talk aloud. "I had guessed it was legend after searching for years and not finding a trace of it…"

Kagome recognized the predatory look in the demon's eyes. "You can't have it, Kurama." She lifted her chin, trying to look strong enough to protect the Jewel.

"I don't believe you could stop me if I wanted it, Kagome."

"I stopped Naraku. You are a great deal less evil than Naraku."

A grim smile edged its way up Kurama's face. "For the good of the three realms, Kagome, I think I am going to have to insist that you give us this Jewel. You don't seem strong enough to protect it anymore, what with your nonexistent miko powers." 



"It would go straight to Koenma, Kagome. Kurama wouldn't retain the Jewel. Koenma will probably put it in a safe, or something." Kuwabara was glaring at the fox for freaking Kagome out. 

Hiei snorted. "As if the prince wouldn't use it for his own good."

Kagome looked between the detectives. "I am not giving any of you the Jewel. I am its protector, and as such I maintain control over the Jewel."

Hiei let contempt fill his voice once more. "As if you could stop all four of us. You are self-admittedly weak, and Naraku knows this. It's why he came here tonight."

"Irregardless, I'm not letting go of the Jewel. So you can take your highhanded ideals and shove them-"

"How did you escape?" Yusuke asked, interrupting Kagome. "If he had you completely under his control, how did you escape?"

Kagome's eyes began flickering around the kitchen, avoiding looking anyone in the eye. 

"Well… He didn't absorb Inuyasha 'just like that', Yusuke."

"Well then, what happened?" 

Kagome slumped, letting exhaustion work its way out. "I'm not entirely sure. At first, after –" she swallowed. "After, he absorbed Inuyasha it was like he basked in the power." Kagome cocked her head, considering the memory. "Then he faltered. He kept grabbing his chest, pushing down. I think he was trying to keep Inuyasha inside himself. He collapsed and sort of convulsed." She grew silent, reliving the moment. "I took my chance to run. Inuyasha's … death… might as well have been worth something. I don't know how I got back home, to the well."

"But Kagome," Kuwabara quietly spoke up. "If Inuyasha is dead, why would you think the image Naraku showed you was anything but that? Why would you kiss him?"

"What if, what if he isn't dead? I don't know what happened after I ran. It could be more than just Naraku winning. Inuyasha was strong – is strong. He could still be fighting him."

Hiei quietly spoke up. "It is doubtful he survived, Kagome. Inuyasha is most likely dead."

Kagome turned hard eyes to the hybrid. "Don't give me that pitying tone, Hiei. You know nothing of Inuyasha, and you know nothing of what happened."

"No one else has ever survived, Kagome. Don't forget, I know of Naraku, too. You should have simply let me kill him."



"I could not have taken the chance that he was alive. If he is alive, I can't let you kill him, Hiei. If there is a way to save Inuyasha, I am going to find it. And you won't kill Naraku before hand."

Dead silence perforated the room after that proclamation. 

Yusuke's voice came out slightly strangled as he struggled not to shout at Kagome. "But, Kagome, what of Keiko?"

Kagome looked Yusuke in the eyes. "Inuyasha is more important to me than Keiko is, Yusuke."

Yusuke clenched his hands, trying to reign in his emotions. 

Surprisingly, it was Kuwabara who spoke up next. "You're right, Kagome." Yusuke's head jerked up. "You are a traitor." Kagome sucked in a gasp. "You are putting the dead above the living. That is not acceptable. Your priorities are screwed up, Kagome. What we are doing here, now, that's more important than some lost love that you'll never get back."

Kagome stared at Kuwabara in dumbfounded shock. Of all of Yusuke's friends, he was the nicest. He would always give her the benefit of the doubt, and she had thought that maybe, maybe, she would get a friend of her own out of him. She couldn't understand how he could say such a thing.

"Kuwabara…"

"No, Kagome, Kuwabara is right. Until this issue is resolved, we cannot trust you with Naraku." Kagome turned to stare at Kurama. "We cannot trust you with our plans, with the rescue, with anything." 

Kagome nodded slowly. She had expected as much – it would be foolish to admit herself a liability and not expect some setbacks.

Kurama hardened his voice as he saw the miko acquiesce to his will. "We cannot trust you with the Jewel, Kagome. It is time that you hand it over to us. We will protect it where you have failed."

Kagome gave him a look as if her were stupid. "I've already told you that I'm not handing over the Jewel. So stop asking, Kurama."

"But, Kagome, we are not asking," spoke Hiei.

She stiffened against the wall she was leaning on. 

"We are taking."


	15. Chapter 15

_**Ultimatum**_

_Chapter 15_

_Boxing King_

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Kagome gave him a look as if her were stupid. "I've already told you that I'm not handing over the Jewel. So stop asking, Kurama."

"But, Kagome, we are not asking," spoke Hiei.

She stiffened against the wall she was leaning on.

"We are taking."

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Yusuke swiped a hand across his chin and refused to look at Kagome. "Give him the Jewel, Kagome."

Her head swiveled around as her eyes opened wide in shock. Kagome looked at Yusuke for a long moment, and then slowly straightened to her full height. She thrust out her chin. "No."

"Don't make me force it from you, Kagome. You won't like it if I do."

"And how exactly are you going to force it from me, Yusuke? You read up on the latest tortured method. Waterboarding? Or maybe just a good sucker punch to the gut?"

His eye twitched as he suddenly found the table very interesting.

Kurama's suave voice filled the silence. "Now, now, Kagome. We wouldn't make Yusuke do something that could so obviously break him. Hiei and I, however, have no problem with any form of … persuasion."

A small tremble gave away her fear. "Then by all means, Kurama, do your worst." She turned to look at Kuwabara. "Are you going to let them stand by and do this, Kuwabara? You, who would never hurt a woman, are going to stand and do nothing?"

Brown eyes met brown eyes. "Kagome, this could mean the safety of all three realms."

Disbelief colored her voice. "You, you Kazuma Kuwabara, are sacrificing your morals?"

He flinched and dropped her gaze. "This doesn't have to involve torture, Kagome."



"I agree, it doesn't. The only reason torture is even being mentioned is because you four are bringing it to the proverbial table. Trust me, I'm all for no torture."

"Save it, Kagome. If we can keep Yusuke in the dark and safe with his mental state, we sure as hell can do the same to Kuwabara." Kagome jerked her eyes over to Hiei. "And it doesn't even have to involve physical harm. What about your mother, Kagome? You have a family here. We can just as easily blackmail you with them."

"You sound exactly like Naraku. You have stooped to his level. Are you proud of that fact?"

"We are separated from Naraku by the fact that we are saving the three realms from disaster, not pushing them into it. The same cannot be said for you, however."

"Oh save it. I am the protector, therefore I keep the Jewel."

"And how do you presume to do that, Kagome?" asked Kurama.

"Tell me, Kurama. You seem to know everything. Where is the Jewel now? Naraku doesn't have it. What makes you think he hasn't looked everywhere for it already. And, just in case any of you forgot, he did torture me. He took away my family. And I still did not give up the Jewel. If you can so easily kill innocent people, then you cement my decision in keeping it away from all of you."

Yusuke threw up his hands. "Kagome, do you honestly think I could hurt my own family? I love Souta like a little brother."

"I would believe the worst of you at this moment Yusuke. The regard you're showing your family right now just plain sucks."

"Give him the Jewel, Kagome."

"Damnit, Yusuke, I am not giving up the Jewel!"

"Fine." And Hiei moved before anyone could react.

Kagome's eyes widened as she threw up an arm to deflect the hands suddenly reaching for her throat.

"Hiei, no!" shouted Yusuke as he lunged at the smaller man.

Hiei reached around her hand effortlessly as Kagome's eyes flicked to Yusuke being held back. Kurama had an arm around his neck, pinned at the elbow. His other arm was wrapped around one of Yusuke's arms. She looked at Kuwabara, standing there helpless to do anything in the situation.



Hiei's hands locked around her throat, and he began to squeeze. She frantically beat at his head, fingers scrabbling for a purchase in the corner of his eyes. Hiei carelessly released a hand and backhanded her, before resuming the choke.

Kagome blinked, slightly dazed. This, this was the man she dreamed about. Christ, she had even begun to like him, and here he was beating her. What was wrong with her that she could begin to like a man like this?

"Just tell us where it is, Kagome. Tell us the location of the Jewel and all of this can end."

Black dots began to dance in front of her eyes.

"Give me some clue that you want to talk, and we can stop this now."

The room began to dim just as Kuwabara ran towards the two.

"Hiei, enough of this! You're killing her!"

He was killing her.

He was a demon.

And he was killing her.

It was as if a switch had been hit inside of her. The door was open. Kagome closed her eyes against the encroaching darkness and let herself go. Magic suddenly filled her, from toe to the top of her head.

God, it was the most wonderful thing she had ever felt. A huge part of herself had been cut off, and now it was suddenly back. She felt whole for the first time in a long time.

She narrowed her suddenly clear eyes and focused on the demon in front of her.

The only suggestion she had that he knew he was in deep shit was the sudden widening of his eyes. Then she released the leash.

Her body burst into a brilliant pink glow and her neck blazed in a dazzling white.

Hiei's howl filled the room until she felt the jerk as he was thrown away. Immediately the light dimmed and Kagome looked at the demon.

Kuwabara was thrown half on top of the smaller man as he cradled his burnt hands to his chest. They were blackened up to the wrist.

Her chilled voice filled the sudden silence. "Why did you move him away, Kuwabara?"



"Y-you were killing him."

"As he tried to kill me."

Her gaze whipped across to Yusuke. Kurama's arms were slack around the astonished detective.

"You won't have the Jewel, Yusuke. None of you shall. Not even in its presence, and two demons have suddenly become deadly in the search. Imagine what it would be like with the actual Jewel. Very few demons can be with the corruption, Yusuke. Inuyasha was but a half demon, not stuck with the full urge to take the Jewel. And Shippo was but a kit, unknowing of its true appeal. Your group shall never hold the Shikon Jewel, and nor shall the spirit ruler."

She looked once more around the room, eyes settling last on the Koorime.

"Goodbye, Yusuke. Come after me and I will kill you all. Don't bother going to my family. As far as they are concerned, I am settled safely here and will be for some time. The threat of taking them is useless. I've suffered through death before, and in doing so I made the decision that the Jewel is more important than family. You killing them would just be useless."

She turned and walked out of the room. Walked out of the apartment. And walked out of the Spirit Detectives' lives.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"You have to get her back, Yusuke! She is the key to the three realms, and we just can't have her walking about in the middle of Tokyo!" Prince Koenma had his hands stuck to the desk, palms flat, as he yelled at his team.

"I can't believe you all just let her waltz out of there as she pleased!"

Collectively the group winced.

Kurama rubbed a hand on the back of his neck. "Frankly, Koenma, so are we. She stunned us with her little display of powers back there."

"Oh, save it, Kurama. You've dealt with mikos before, and Hiei was barely wounded."

"His hands were almost burnt off!" spoke a shocked Kuwabara.

Koenma waved it off. "He'll heal. It's just a paltry burn." Koenma ignored Hiei's snort of contempt in the corner.

"It is imperative that you get that Jewel and bring it here before Naraku does."



"What do you suggest, Koenma. A miko is hardly defenseless. She already told us blackmailing her family would be useless. And we believe her." Hiei sat in the corner, hands settled carefully on his knees.

The toddler settled back in his chair to think.

"You could drug her."

"Ok, after that and we drag her here, how are you going to get it out of her?"

Furious sucking of the pacifier commenced. "Torture didn't work?"

"She didn't so much as twitch as she began to black out. I think it was a fluke that her powers came out, or she would have done it in the beginning and not waited until then."

"Well, we could connect her to the TV and sift back through her memories. Unfortunately it would have to be done by hand. And she would have had to be watching what she was doing. If she had any idea of this procedure being possible, she would have blocked it easily."

"It's possible she doesn't know of it. But we need other options."

"We could try worse torture."

"No." Yusuke's voice was just a rasp, but it was heard clearly in the room. "No more torture. I'm not going to torture my cousin anymore. And neither are any of you." He glared at Kurama, sporting a recent black eye. "And none of you are going to be stopping me again."

Koenma cleared his throat. "Yes, well."

"Other options, Koenma." Koenma eyed the talkative demon. Hiei usually wasn't the one to plan so thoroughly. And he usually didn't let a few wounds stop him, when in fact they usually goaded him on.

"Why do you need more than one, Hiei?"

"The odds of one thing simply working on her are practically nill. I don't want to be dragging her here and then getting fucked up again because we don't have a plane."

"Koenma, why can't we just lock her up? If Naraku can't get to her, then the Jewel should be safe." Kuwabara gazed inquiringly at the Prince.

"It's not on her person, Kuwabara."

"But clearly, no one can find it without her telling them where to look."



Koenma gave a grunt of approval. "That actually sounds valid, Kuwabara. It shall be a last approach, I think. I doubt she'd take kindly to being kidnapped and held captive."

"Yeah, cause drugs and an invasion of privacy are hardly any better." Koenma glared at Yusuke.

"It is for the good of the three realms, Yusuke."

"I know," he sighed out heavily. "It's never going to be the same between us after this. We had a special bond, and I think I've fucked it six ways to Sunday."

"It wasn't your fault, Yusuke." Kuwabara moved over to put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "She kept it secret from us. She talked to Naraku. She has the Jewel. She's more to blame than you are, Yusuke."

"The first course of action is just to get her here. We can take it from there." Koenma turned towards Kurama and Hiei. "It might be best for you two to stay here until we have her under control."

"No," snapped out Hiei. "We are coming with. These two idiots can't handle her on their own. She knows who has a sense of honor and who doesn't. She tried to turn Kuwabara against us earlier. And all she had to do is look at Yusuke and he'll cave."

Koenma nodded. "Fine."

Kurama agreed. "What kind of drug should we use? Something that can be administered from a distance, or something so simple as chloroform?"

"A swift whack to the back of her head would work just as well," muttered Hiei from his corner.

Yusuke in turn glared at the smaller demon.

"We can just tranq her. Little bit of Thorazine. That'll make her easy enough to grab."

Yusuke rubbed his jaw and turned towards Kurama.

"Fine, tranqs. Fine."

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Kagome sat on the rooftop of a nearby building. She didn't have a clue where she was, just that she was high up and looking out on the nightlife of Tokyo. It had seemed like a decent idea at the time. She absently petted the pink bear in her lap. She sighed.

There was so much she didn't understand right now. First and foremost in her mind was why had her miko powers returned? One would think it was due to being attacked by a demon, but really, she had practically kicked the bucket being attacked by those damn electric demons and 

her miko powers hadn't even trilled then. She was pretty much clueless as to the reasoning behind it.

Second, and sadly almost tied for first place, was Hiei. The man was intoxicating. She was practically having sex with him in her dreams! She could admit to herself, in the quiet of her own mind, that she was attracted to him. No, she had been. Past tense, definitely past tense. Like hell did she like the little bastard now. He had almost killed her! Let the little bastard come into her dreams now, she'd gut him.

Kagome gave an annoyed grunt. She had better things to be thinking about than him.

Like Keiko. Their plans had ultimately failed at this point. She doubted the boys were going through with the originally rescue idea, probably figuring she had told it all to Naraku. She frowned. Which she hadn't.

How had Naraku known to come to Yusuke's? How had he known she would be there, after all this time? He had timed it perfectly. He had also known about Yusuke and the others. He had known more about Hiei than Kagome did. Was it possible Hiei knew him more intimately?

She dismissed that idea. She didn't peg Hiei as a traitor of any sort. She frowned. Naraku seemed to know an awful lot of what was going on. The others would just attribute it to her telling him, but there had to be something more… A spy? Who would spy for Naraku? An ogre, perhaps? She had no idea how trustworthy Koenma's people were. She frowned harder. She had no idea how trustworthy Yusuke's friends were. She had thought she knew them, but how they had reacted to the Jewel made her doubt everything.

It didn't really matter now anyways. It wasn't like she could tell Yusuke and have him believe her. And they would hopefully figure it out soon enough for themselves once she wasn't there to listen in and 'coincidences' kept happening.

She decided to puzzle over what she should do with Keiko? Should she try and rescue her herself? Kagome seriously didn't think she was up to it. She hadn't been able to save anyone else before Keiko. What would make this different? Pretty much nothing, as far as she could tell. She didn't even know where Keiko was being held. Hopefully, that trick of Botan's would work. She could only hope.

In either case, Keiko wasn't her priority. Just like her family wasn't. If she could sacrifice them, she sure as hell could ignore Keiko in danger.

Even if she lost a little bit more of who she was.

Just like she had before. She suddenly wilted. She hated herself, hated what she had become. What kind of decent human sacrifices others? She loved her family. Kagome raised a hand to her breast and pressed slightly, feeling her heart beat rapidly against her hand. She could feel herself slowing slipping into the abyss that she had come home with. She was just as bad as in 

the Feudal Era, if not worse. There, her comrades had understood what was happening, but here her family was clueless. They wouldn't understand anything.

At first she hadn't understood Kikyou. But now, now things were different. She understood the cold, hard façade that she had had to put up for others. She understood all that Kikyou had given up. And she understood why she had reached out to someone, seeking love and attention. Seeking forgiveness and understanding. A demon would understand better than a human what she had had to give up.

Was she like Kikyou? She was losing herself in the protection of the little sphere. Was she also reaching out? Was she letting herself open up to a different demon, trying to share the burden? Kagome suppressed a shudder. She knew what a bad idea that was – had seen firsthand what happened when the protector let herself have a weakness for another.

Kagome heaved out a sigh. That was the first time she had thought of Kikyou in such a long while. What had happened to the undead miko? She hadn't gotten the rest of her soul back… but did that necessarily mean Kikyou was alive? She had no way of finding out in either case.

Would she fall back into depression?

Perhaps this was a bigger question than she had thought, it popping up randomly and all in her thoughts.

Kagome began twisting one of the ears of the little bear in her lap. She didn't really think so. Coming back from the Feudal Era, she had thought things were over. She had thought she was done being a protector. Now, she was once again needed. And that solved the question right there. She wouldn't be committing suicide while she was needed.

Of course, death was always easier on the dead one anyways. That had been what Yusuke had said, when she had run away. Could her life suck enough that she just didn't want to live anymore? It was possible – why live when you hated what you had become? Making the decisions she had, sacrificing the ones she loved, they changed a person. And once you changed in such a monumental fashion, you couldn't ever go back. The hard truth that had been learned and accepted would always be there waiting in the background, waiting to pop back into her life. Every time she looked at her mother, she would think that she could kill her, in a roundabout manner. That was how much her mother meant to her – little enough that she could kill her.

She began picking at one of the little bead eyes. Death was always easier on the dead one, but perhaps in this case it would save the ones alive as well. With her dead, no demon would ever need come and attack her family.

Kagome began pulling on the tail. Damn little bear. She had no idea why she even grabbed the thing on her way out. Such a sentimental motion that had been. She didn't need to be that weak.

She set it down on the ledge beside her and stared at it hard. It gleamed happily back up at her. Kagome scowled.

She grabbed the teddy bear and drew her arm back. She'd just throw it over the edge, and then the problem would be solved. No more teddy, no more weakness.

She tensed, preparing to throw, then just gave a defeated sigh and hugged the damn bear.

She couldn't throw it away. It meant to much to her. It was pretty much the only family she had now anyways.

Besides, Naraku could torture the teddy bear all he wanted and it would never be in pain.

She set it carefully down on the ledge beside her and petted its little pink head.

Then she turned straight into Naraku's arms.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Yusuke was slowly meandering down the street after Kuwabara. He had fallen back to think. Or rather, to not be there when Kuwabara drugged his cousin.

It had shocked him slightly when Kuwabara had taken the dart gun with little distaste. At an inquiring look, all Kuwabara had said was, "Keiko comes first for me, Yusuke. And if that means taking your cousin out of harm's way, then I can do that."

Kurama and Hiei were even farther behind him. While Hiei had practically pitched a fit at being left behind, he had succumbed to logic. It had apparently been a huge sacrifice for the little demon to give up being the one to shoot Kagome. But they had no idea what kind of skills Kagome had with her powers. It would just be their luck that she sense Hiei coming with the gun and fry his ass.

Yusuke kicked a pebble. Would it have been better to leave Kagome in the state that she had been? Alone, but safe? Naraku had only attacked her once she had gotten together with him.

He dismissed that idea almost as fast as it had come into his head. He had no regrets about saving Kagome. Hopefully, he could even help her now. Though she probably wouldn't see it that way.

Yusuke sighed. What did it matter anyways? It wasn't like she was ever going to accept him with open arms again.

Keiko would, though. She wouldn't hate what he had done, what he would have to do. She understood his job, his duties. She would take him back after he drugged his cousin.

He didn't stop walking as he considered Keiko.

To tell the truth, he had forgotten about her for a bit there. He didn't feel ashamed at that fact. It 

wasn't like they hadn't had other shit happening at the same time. It didn't change the fact that she was still in that bastard's grasp, though. From what Hiei had told him, Naraku was one sick puppy. Or rather spider. Half spider… maybe. Whatever the hell he was.

Botan hadn't been able to locate Keiko's spirit waves. For some reason, they weren't appearing at all. Which meant Naraku was blocking them. How he had known to do that was beyond him. But it had meant their plans were at a standstill. They had no way of locating her. But he had been assured by a panicking Botan that her spirit was not in the Spirit Realm.

Which didn't mean shit, if the eating souls bit were true. While he may have doubted just Kagome's word, Hiei had backed it up. It made him cold to think such a thought. Botan had told him that even though Naraku ate the souls of his victims, they could still locate the soul at any given time – and in turn, Naraku. Obviously, the demon had known something about locating spirits since he had blocked their attempts.

Or had he… Had someone told him all about their plan? Someone like Kagome?

Yusuke hated to think that she could really be a spy, but he couldn't actually dismiss it without taking a careful look at the possibility. He would be a shitty detective if he did.

He kicked another pebble. It soared clear across the street.

He had just swung his foot back to kick another when he heard a scream. A female scream.

Yusuke jerked his head up in a panic. He looked at Kuwabara, who had just picked up to a run, and he looked back at Kurama and Hiei, both quickly gaining on him.

Shit. Sounded like he was going to get the chance to save Kagome again.

And Yusuke took off running.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Kagome jumped back swearing, trying to balance on the perilously close edge. She glared at the half breed in front of her. He stood casually in front of her, a mere foot away. He looked fulfilled, skin practically glowing. She figured that meant he had recently absorbed someone. The bastard didn't look worried at all to be facing her. That was just aggravating as all hell.

"What the hell are you doing here?

"What do you think I'm doing? You are suddenly without protection of any kind. You ran away from the only people that stood a chance against me." He leered down at her. "And now I am going to take my Jewel."

Kagome swallowed and licked suddenly dry lips.



"What makes you think you can get it this time Naraku? Nothing has changed since last time."

"I can take you with me, Kagome." A strange light came into his eye. "Did you know there is technology that will allow me to sift through your very memories? All I need to do is sift through until I find the day you hid the Jewel, and then voila, I can get it."

Kagome's shoulders kind of hunched. Go figure that there would be something so dastardly in the spirit realm somewhere.

"Imagine all that I could see, Kagome. Have you been doing anything with your little halfbreed? You do look so much like Kikyou. It would almost be like having the real thing in front of me."

Oh god, he was such a freak. A pervert.

"So you've stopped to the level of a peeping tom now, Naraku? That's rather pathetic. Can't get women on your own?"

His face stretched into a snarl as he suddenly kicked out, hitting Kagome square in the chest. She let out a small scream as the ledge suddenly disappeared from underneath her and she was falling through air.

At the last second, her fingers grabbed the stone.

She hung on with one arm, the other flailing in open air. Naraku leaned down and peered at her over the ledge.

"Want to tell me where it is now? A little step on your fingers, and you can go crashing to your death, Kagome."

"And that would do you a hell of a lot of good, Naraku. Who you going to get to tell you where it is when I'm dead?"

"Why Kagome, didn't you know? With the current protector dead, the Jewel would be reincarnated into the next defender. All I would have to do is find this young, unknowing girl, kill her, and dig around inside her until I find it. That really would be easier, you know." He frowned mockingly down at her. "The only thing keeping me from doing that is the hassle of finding the new kid." His voice turned hard and he suddenly ground his heel into her fingers, "But don't think I won't do it, Kagome."

Kagome flinched as her fingers were ground into the cement of the ledge. Was it true, that the Jewel would be reincarnated? It had had to be burned in the past, and that certainly wasn't the case right now.

Could she use her powers on him through his boot? Would it still hit his foot and burn the bastard? She sure hoped so, cause that was what she was about to try.



"I don't believe you, Naraku. The Jewel had to be burned in the past for it to be placed in the next miko."

And she opened the door to her powers.

At first nothing happened, and Kagome began to worry that her powers were once again gone.

Then she began to glow a white pink. Her power snaked up her arm and flowed to her fingers. It went over Naraku's boot and began to wind around his leg. 

He laughed. Naraku laughed as her priestess powers tried to burn him.

"Now, Kagome, you didn't actually think that would work, did you? You didn't think after all this time that I wouldn't find a way to counteract your purification? Tsk, tsk."

What? Her powers weren't working on a demon? Why the hell not?

She wasn't given time to think as Naraku grabbed her arm and hauled her up to face him, still hanging over open air.

"Let me take your powers once more, Kagome. Just like I did in the alley."

Kagome's eyes widened right before she began to scream as she was suddenly encased in a purple mist.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

The Detectives all reached the street right under Kagome at the same time. They looked up as she was hauled up to Naraku.

"What the fuck is happening?" Yusuke shouted.

Collectively, the group turned towards Hiei. He closed his eyes and opened the Jagan to _see_ what was happening. He tried to see himself standing above the building, looking down. It didn't work.

His eyes shot open and he looked at Kurama. "The Jagan isn't working." His voice was deadpan, but a fine tremble of his shoulders gave away his panic.

"What the fuck do you mean the Jagan isn't working?" Yusuke looked up as Kagome began to scream. "Shit, we don't have time for this. Kuwabara, I'm going to fire the spirit gun at Naraku. It probably won't do anything more than distract him, hopefully enough into dropping Kagome. You are going to shoot Kagome as she falls to get her out of the way. Hiei, you're going to grab her as she falls since you're the fastest. Once you have her away and secure, come join the fight. Kuwabara and I will make our way topside after our tasks are done. Kurama you head to the roof and see if you can't head him off as soon as I fire. Everyone got it?" He had fired the 

directions of in rapid succession, and he was relieved to see the group nod, if grudgingly, at his orders.

Yusuke ran farther out into the street to get a better angle. He took careful aim as a purple mist began to swirl around his cousin.

"Ready, Kuwabara?"

"Anytime, Yusuke!"

"SPIRIT GUN!" and Yusuke let his weapon fly. Bright blue light filled the air as energy suddenly rocketed towards Naraku.

The demon looked up in surprise, right before he jumped out of the way. Dropping Kagome.

Kuwabara shot the tranq and hit her dead in the back. Hiei leaped forward and grabbed the miko as she fell.

Yusuke and Kuwabara didn't wait to see if Hiei had caught her, trusting in their comrade. They took off for the top of the building, where Kurama was awaiting backup.

They missed the Koorime falling after a few steps of holding the miko. He collapsed onto the ground in convulsions as the Jagan began to glow purple once more. Both Kagome and Hiei began to writhe on the ground, backs arching, bodies glowing.

A small pop rocked the duo, and Hiei sat up as Kagome settled into a drug induced slumber. He looked up and could suddenly see everything. The fight was in full swing on top of the roof. And the Dragon was eager to join in to the fight. Hiei stood, black flames twirling around his right arm, and raced towards the top of the building, Jagan glowing.

Kagome was left on the street, unconscious of all that was happening around her.

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(Ha – thirteen freaking pages and over 5000 words! Take that for a chapter after a long delay! Let me know what y'all thought of the chapter. The ending seemed a bit forced/rushed to me, but I liked it anyways. Read, Enjoy, and Review!!)


	16. Chapter 16

_**Ultimatum**_

_Chapter 16_

_Boxing King_

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For the record, I have no idea how to get rid of the blackbars in the middle of a scene. It's not an intentional break of any kind, so if it shows up, just ignore it. . Sorry all. They won't allow me to select them, and thus delete them, and they are showing up on the bottom of every page…

In other news, FINALLY! All done! Check out my blog for updates otherwise. I talk about this a lot. About ideas and progress. Go on, check it out, and leave a comment. 

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Naraku stood surrounded on three sides on the roof. The setup was laughable, in his supreme estimation. These three were hardly worth any effort. One, complete human, didn't have comparable speed, let alone power. The other two would be a bit more difficult, but he had absorbed more powerful people in his time.

It seemed to be a standoff until one of them made a move. Well, let it be him, then.

Naraku lunged at Yusuke with a punch to the head. The detective easily dodged, ducking down, preparing to swing back with a right hook of his own. He missed Naraku leaning down, grabbing his shoulder, and pulling him into a knee into his gut.

Yusuke went stumbling back, trying to breathe properly. Naraku leaned into kick his head and was jerked back by a whip that came soaring by.

Kurama's thorny weapon barely missed slicing Naraku's head. He turned and smiled at the Fox in his corner of the roof.

He waited for him to come attack, contempt all over his face. It puzzled Naraku until he realized that they all seemed to be waiting for something.

Then it occurred to him that there was a fourth to the group that was missing. Of course, that delectable little halfbreed. He was most likely off hiding Kagome. As if he couldn't find her later. They were probably waiting for him to come, him with his better speed and his Jagan.

He would have the Jagan back after touching Kagome. It had to be what he was doing. Naraku didn't really want to deal with the Jagan right now. His plans weren't yet finished, and the Koorime would only interfere.

With a small sigh, Naraku decided to abandon this fight. It wasn't like he wasn't going to be able to pick one later. Of course he would.



Naraku looked at the weakest team member, fidgeting in his corner, impatient to fight and prove his mettle, but stuck following orders. It would be the easiest way off the roof.

He lunged at Kuwabara and prepared to rip his throat. The pathetic human raised his hands and let a surge of energy fill up and form a sword. Naraku let him run towards him, screaming his pitiable war cry.

He let a macabre grin fill his face at the prospect of slicing away the human's head.

He missed the small demon coming up along his side and thrusting the sword in.

Hiei smiled viciously, face similar to Naraku's just a moment before, as he twisted the sword in deeper. His third eye began to open and glow a soft purple. Wind began to gather around the pair.

Naraku looked at the Koorime and laughed. Hiei looked at his sword, coated in blood. Why would he laugh at an almost fatal wound? It slowly began to slide deeper, taking back in the blood as it went. Hiei let go with a snarl as the sword was sucked into Naraku's body.

With a giggle, Naraku kicked out at Hiei, sending him into Yusuke's racing body, and then took off. Running faster than Kuwabara could see, and faster than the others could react, Naraku was soon miles away.

Hiei sat up with a shake of his head. The damn bastard had taken his sword. And easily escaped from them. Pathetic.

No matter. Kagome was safe. Or should be at the base of the building. With a few choice swearwords Hiei leaped off roof to race towards her side.

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Safely away on a random building, Naraku hunched over and extricated the sword. He grunted as he pulled, hilt first, the jabbing piece of metal tearing at his insides. The worn metal sliced his stomach as he pulled it out.

Damn Koorime, getting in a blow like that.

He looked down in disgust at the bloody blade. It was fragile, now, after being in his body, completely black and flaking off in bits. Eyes on the blade, he let it drop to his feet. He viciously stepped down, letting it crumble beneath his foot.

Damn Koorime.

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Hiei landed gracefully on the balls of his feet, hand touching the ground. He took a moment to control his face, clearing off any emotion before raising crimson eyes to gaze at the unconscious female before him.

He supposed it was damn good luck that she hadn't been swiped by the enemy. Or cripes, mugged by a human. The irony would have been thick enough to walk on.

He raised to his full height and slowly stalked over to Kagome. She looked so peaceful there on the ground. Her face relaxed as she slept (drugged or not…), and an innocent expression stole up. He could actually believe it, considering she was knocked out cold. Hard to fake things then.

He gave a small snort and bent down.

A hand strong on his shoulder spun him around.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Hiei?" Yusuke was staring pissed into his friend's face. "For that matter, what the hell were you thinking?" A fine red flush snuck up his face. "You just left her there! Anyone could have taken her, you jackass!"

Hiei's spine straightened, and his eyes narrowed. "Nothing happened, Yusuke," he said slowly, enunciating each word clearly.

"That doesn't excuse it! She could have been kidnapped! What would have happened had Naraku simply been a diversion for us?"

Hiei flexed his fists, trying not to smash them into the detective's face. Everything he had said was true, but that didn't mean he was going to take shit from him!

"You didn't follow orders, Hiei! Why the fuck not?"

Hiei's fist swung up to punch Yusuke square in the jaw. He stopped and inch away from his face, hand shaking. He closed his eyes on Yusuke's face, right next to his fist and not even flinching.

"Hiei," Kurama calmly spoke up, "What is going on? You haven't been this… rash… in centuries."

Hiei breathed deeply, taking in as much air as he could and letting it out slowly. When he felt he could control himself once more, his fist sank back down to his side.

"I don't know, Kurama." He wouldn't look at anyone while he spoke, instead turning to stare at Kagome. "It's like, like I'm out of control. I get so, so," he paused, searching for a word. "So geared up. I get so angry, or excited. And I take the nearest outlet nearby."



No one spoke, staring at their small companion. What would happen if he lost control, so eager to fight, and brought the dragon into the mix, into an area full of humans? Koenma would lock him up, without a second's hesitation, and throw away the key.

"I think," Yusuke started, "I think we need to get to the Spirit Realm. It would probably be the safest place for everyone right now." Hiei nodded slowly, and bent to pick Kagome up once more.

"No, Hiei." Once more Yusuke's hand settled on his shoulder. He pushed past the demon and picked up his cousin, carrying her gently in his arms, teddy bear pressed between one arm and his side. Brown, bead eyes seemed to stare accusingly at Hiei as Yusuke walked away.

It took more restraint than Hiei thought he had to let the detective walk away, unharmed, carrying Kagome. More restraint than everyone thought he had. Furious, he stalked off after Yusuke.

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An unconscious Kagome was settled into a corner of Koenma's office, teddy bear clutched in her hands, as the Spirit Detectives tried to piece together the puzzle laid out before them.

"Ok, Hiei, let's start with you." Yusuke ignored the tensing of Hiei's shoulders at his tone. "You told us earlier that you couldn't use the Jagan, right before we were going to fight Naraku. So how the hell did you get it back?"

Hiei shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot before replying, voice deadpan. "I touched your cousin."

Yusuke stopped pacing and turned to stare incredulously at his friend. "What?"

Kurama cleared his throat. "He caught her Yusuke."

Yusuke visibly relaxed. "Oh yeah. Whew, had me worried there for a minute."

Inwardly cringing at the thought of Yusuke knowing what was going on between him and his cousin, Hiei glared at Kurama, silently telling him to keep his trap shut.

The fox narrowed his own green eyes, obviously disagreeing with Hiei's plan.

"Ok, so what else can we bring to the table? What has all been going on?"

Hiei turned away from Kurama and pretended to seriously consider Yusuke's question. It was difficult to find anything legitimate without lying. It wasn't like he could tell Yusuke that he was having extremely realistic erotic dreams with his cousin. And he couldn't blurt out in front of Koenma that he had almost lost control of the Jagan when Naraku (as he could now presume) had gained control of it somehow. That would raise some serious questions of whether he could 

control the Dragon. Questions that had his death as an alternative. The tool was too dangerous for any demon if he could not control it.

"Ok, let's start simple." Yusuke slapped his hands together in preparation of the brainstorming. "We know he has a connection with spiders. He has a connection with electric demons."

"I think we can discard that one, Yusuke," Kurama spoke up. "I think he made a momentary deal with those demons. He might call on them later, but I don't think he has any kind of connection besides bribery."

Yusuke nodded his agreement. "Ok, next then." He paused, trying to think of anything else. "He swallows leaders. We must assume he gets power from this. He hasn't shown any unusual techniques, so I would guess he only gets mass power and that's it." He continued as everyone nodded agreement. "Is there any chance that Inuyasha character Kagome spoke of is alive, Hiei?"

"None, Detective. He absorbs their body and soul. Why would anything be able to live after that?"

Kuwabara shifted uncomfortably. "Can we just dismiss all of those lives that easily, though, Yusuke? What if we could save them? Are we not obligated to?"

"As far as I am concerned, they are dead, casualties of war. My only concerns now are Keiko and Kagome."

Kuwabara nodded his assent slowly.

"Ok, next?" Yusuke's head swiveled to each person in the group individually. "Nothing? How can we know so little after all of this time?"

Hiei continued to stare resolutely at the wall, avoiding all gazes.

"Ok, let's try this tract then. Why is Hiei's Jagan connected to Kagome?"

The room went completely silent. Finally, Hiei spoke up. "No idea, Yusuke." Kurama barely muffled his snort. Ruby eyes glared at the Fox.

"DAMNIT!" exclaimed Yusuke! He turned to pound his fist into the wall in a fit of anger and stopped at the sight of Kagome struggling awake. "Kagome," he voiced deadpan. "You're awake."

Kagome grunted her assent as she struggled to sit up. Her head pounded, and she seemed to be having a hard time thinking. It seemed like her head was full of cotton, and it was damn hard to think through. She slowly blinked, getting the room into focus. As soon as she saw who she shared the room with, she glared at each occupant.



"What," she began thickly, "What the hell is going on?"

Kurama decided to speak up as Yusuke was decidedly ignoring his cousin's gaze. "We captured you, Kagome. It wasn't like we could just let you walk away like that."

She stood, using the wall for balance. "I walked out once, what's to keep me from doing it again?"

A tight smile appeared on Kurama's face. "Try it."

A hot anger coursed through her so fast she staggered. The bastard. She would show him, all she had to do was fry his ass. All of their asses, while she was at it. Even if she had to get a legitimate match for Kuwabara.

She straightened and narrowed her eyes. She would begin with that damn fox. She began to concentrate, trying to bring her miko powers to the front of her mind. A fine sweat started to perspire her forehead. She frowned. It seemed to be a hell of a lot harder than before.

"It's not going to work, Kagome. You're powers are gone."

"Shit!" She turned to run and didn't make one step before strong arms wrapped her upper body. She briefly tried to struggle, but the drugs made her lethargic and slow. Before she knew it, she was roped and sitting on a chair, staring once more into the face of Kurama.

"Oh, this is just great. Where are my miko powers? And what the hell are all of you planning? Going to beat the location out of me again?"

Kurama snorted. It seemed to Kagome that he enjoyed being the one to talk to her, the one to give her the ugly announcements.

"Hardly. We saw how well that worked last time. We have a new plan for you, Kagome." She shuddered slightly at the sinister tone his voice held. "As for your miko powers, it seems they have nicely transferred back to Hiei. We all much prefer him in control of the Jagan, anyways." Her eyes riveted to the smaller demon. He had her powers? Why the hell wasn't he getting crispied?

Kurama saw the question in her eyes. "Unfortunately, we have no idea how that particular trick works." He shrugged. "We were just discussing all the facts before you woke up. Since we know you like to blab to the enemy, we'll wait to go further." Kagome inwardly rolled her eyes at their idiocy that still seemed to prevail.

In his corner of the room, Hiei was secretly pleased that he had a delay. He had to find some way to keep the facts of what was happening between him and Kagome from everyone else. He probably couldn't count on the Fox for help, as he seemed to alternate between glaring at him to give it all up and leaving hints for the Detectives to blissfully ignore.



The doors to the conference room banged open with a suddenness that startled everyone. Koenma regally walked in, demanding attention for his very presence. The ogre walked behind meekly, carrying a few wire contraptions.

"It is time. She has awoken, and we can now sift back through her memories."

Kagome sagged in her chair at this news with a muttered fuck. It was real, just as Naraku had said.

The prince looked down on her even with his small height. The contempt in his eyes was clear to all watching. "Since you are so uncooperative, and normal methods of persuasion don't seem to be working on you, we are going to access your memories and see where the Jewel is for ourselves. We are also going to get the lowdown on Naraku as you know it. Should be educational."

Kagome cringed back into her chair at the thought of the violation. She began to panic, her body being seized by shaking. Would they be able to find the Jewel? How did this contraption work, exactly? And what else would they find out? There were clearly things that only a select few were privy to in the room, and she would rather it stayed that way.

Yusuke apparently had some of the same questions Kagome did. "So, Toddler, how does this doodah work?" Caught up in the brevity of the moment, Koenma did not reprimand the detective for the insult.

"It's relatively simple. We go through her memories. What she saw, we see. What she thought, we think."

"So what, is it like Google for the brain?" Koenma stared blankly at Yusuke. "Are we going to be accessing the Spirit World Ethernet or something? Can we just type Shikon Jewel into a search box?"

Koenma blinked slowly. Finally he spoke slowly. "No, Yusuke. It's kind of like a VCR. We rewind from this point back to find what we want."

"That's a lot of shit to sift through. Is there any way we can just jump scenes like in a DVD?"

Koenma covered his eyes with a muttered curse about dimwits. "No, Yusuke. We don't have such advanced "technology" here." He turned around shaking his head. Yusuke simply shrugged and began to whistle aimlessly, trying to ignore his panicking cousin.

Hiei began to panic himself. Sifting back through her memories one by one would definitely reveal certain dreams they had shared. Shit. Not to mention that favor he owed her…

"You are all perverts!" Kagome announced in a last ditch effort to prevent what was about to happen. "Loser men, all of you, sifting through a girl's private thoughts. That's like reading my diary!"

Kuwabara shifted from foot to foot. "Maybe we should have Botan do it, or something. To give her some sense of privacy?"

He blushed under the incredulous glances he was getting. "Well come on, guys. She's going to have private girl thoughts and moments that we don't need to see. You know… going to the bathroom… undressing."

A few stares turned away, and Koenma actually blushed slightly. "Well, ahem," he coughed slightly, "We weren't meaning to look at those moments, Kuwabara. We will, ah, fast-rewind them. No one will see anything."

"I guess we should hope she didn't flush the Jewel down the toilet, then," muttered Hiei. Yusuke snorted. "Or do any of her important thinking while on the porcelain throne," he added.

Koenma rolled his eyes. "Kagome," he spoke directly to her now, "We will do our best not to look at moments like these, but if an initial search turns up nothing we will have no choice. I will… evict the less mature people from this room if that becomes necessary. However," his eyes turned hard, "You are a prisoner at fault and thus shouldn't have any rights at all. Human rights are not necessarily applicable to the Spirit Realm. It would be best if you remembered that." He cleared his throat once more.

"Now, let's begin."

Ogre walked up to Kagome and began attaching little sticky pads connected to the wires to her forehead in various spots. With a final stick, he announced her finished with five different pads. He then walked over and plugged the whole contraption of cords of wires to the TV. Koenma picked up his remote.

He pushed the power button. The TV flickered to life, the screen going to a white. Kagome's eyes closed and she dropped forward in her chair, suspended only by the ropes.

"She'll be effectively unconscious for the entire period," murmured Koenma. "We can rewind all of the past hour or so. "I think we can start at the rooftop where you found her." All eyes

suddenly became riveted to the screen as it flickered to life.

Naraku's sneering face peered out at the detective's. They shuddered slightly at the pure malevolence focused on Kagome.

They heard Kagome thinking about purifying the demon in front of her as if she were talking. The only clue they had that she wasn't really talking was the slightly airier quality to the tone of words.

_She began to glow a white pink. Her power snaked up her arm and flowed to her fingers. It went over Naraku's boot and began to wind around his leg.  
_

_He laughed. Naraku laughed as her priestess powers tried to burn him._

"_Now, Kagome, you didn't actually think that would work, did you? You didn't think after all this time that I wouldn't find a way to counteract your purification? Tsk, tsk."_

_What? Her powers weren't working on a demon? Why the hell not?_

_She wasn't given time to think as Naraku grabbed her arm and hauled her up to face him, still hanging over open air. _

"_Let me take your powers once more, Kagome. Just like I did in the alley."_

_Kagome's eyes widened right before she began to scream as she was suddenly encased in a purple mist._

Koenma paused the TV. "Ok, why the hell weren't her powers working on him?" He grunted as everyone kind of looked at him blankly. "Does anyone know of any way to counteract a miko and her powers? We know at this time she had them, so that's not in question…" He faded out waiting for an answer. At the blank stares he was getting, he finally grunted and started the TV up again. "Alright then, let's back it up a bit more."

"_What makes you think you can get it this time Naraku? Nothing has changed since last time."_

"_I can take you with me, Kagome." A strange light came into his eye. "Did you know there is technology that will allow me to sift through your very memories? All I need to do is sift through until I find the day you hid the Jewel, and then voila, I can get it."_

_Kagome's shoulders kind of hunched. Go figure that there would be something so dastardly in the spirit realm somewhere._

"_Imagine all that I could see, Kagome. Have you been doing anything with your little halfbreed? You do look so much like Kikyou. It would almost be like having the real thing in front of me."_

_Oh god, he was such a freak. A pervert. _

"_So you've stopped to the level of a peeping tom now, Naraku?"_

Everyone in the room kind of hunched slightly at the accusation that hit so close to home. No one stopped to question the halfbreed mention, and for that Hiei was grateful. Hopefully, if and when they would see her in an erotic moment, they would fast-backwards before seeing he was involved. Oh God.

Koenma hurriedly clicked back some more.

_How had Naraku known to come to Yusuke's? How had he known she would be there, after all this time? He had timed it perfectly. He had also known about Yusuke and the others. He had known more about Hiei than Kagome did. Was it possible Hiei knew him more intimately?_

_She dismissed that idea. She didn't peg Hiei as a traitor of any sort. She frowned. Naraku seemed to know an awful lot of what was going on. The others would just attribute it to her telling him, but there had to be something more… A spy? Who would spy for Naraku? An ogre, perhaps? She had no idea how trustworthy Koenma's people were. She frowned harder. She had no idea how trustworthy Yusuke's friends were. She had thought she knew them, but how they had reacted to the Jewel made her doubt everything._

_It didn't really matter now anyways. It wasn't like she could tell Yusuke and have him believe her. And they would hopefully figure it out soon enough for themselves once she wasn't there to listen in and 'coincidences' kept happening._

A loud click stopped the proceedings.

"Holy shit, she's not the spy!" Kuwabara had a surprised look on his face. "But if she's not the spy, then who is?"

Koenma leaned back in his with an oath. "It could be any of the ogres," he grunted out. "Regardless of what she thinks, I know it's not any of you, so it has to be an ogre." Everyone turned towards the blue ogre in the corner. He began frantically shaking his head right before Koenma spoke up. "It's not him. He's the most trustworthy of the lot, which is exactly why he is my personal assistant." Ogre calmed down and relaxed at the backward praise from Koenma.

"Let's continue, Koenma," spoke Kurama. "We can trust everyone in this room, so let's not waste time."

The TV clicked back on. "We'll just fast-rewind the point where you idiots let her escape…"

An hour later, Koenma had his finger stuck to the button that was saving them time. "Blah, blah, blah. We were all there when this happened. This is nothing new…"

While everyone in the room had their eyes glued to the TV, glazed looks took away any semblance of concentration. None of them had realized quite how boring it would to sift through someone's basic memories.

Koenma leaned down for a moment trying to give his eyes a rest, finger still firmly on the rewind button, when Kuwabara's shout drew his attention.

"Wait! We haven't seen this part yet! Right before she told us she was a traitor!" Koenma jerked forward and jammed the play button down. "She talked to Naraku and we need to see what she said…"

Kagome's lusty moan filled the room followed by Hiei's low grunt.

The group sans Hiei watched in stunned disbelief as he began to accost Kagome through her shirt, which she obviously enjoyed.

A small click paused the tape midaction, capturing Hiei's face center screen, caught up in the heat of the moment. Everyone turned towards Hiei with varying expressions of incredulity.

The small demon swallowed convulsively.

"Uhm…" he muttered, "It's not what it looks like…" Never in his life had he sounded so whipped. He struggled to straighten hunched shoulders and look Yusuke in the eye. It wasn't as if they had done anything wrong, dream world or not.

"Not-" Yusuke struggled for words, face going red, "Not – what – it – looks like?" Hiei nodded slightly. "It looks like, _Hiei_, that you are fucking my cousin. Explain to me how that, _that_," he pointed dramatically towards the screen, "Is not what it looks like."

Hiei mentally cringed at the anger in the Detective's face.

"It isn't actually… happening, Yusuke." He paused at the strangled sound Yusuke emitted. "It was more like a dream… That we both happened to share." A little too late Hiei realized that he probably should have just denied the whole thing and blamed it as Kagome's dream. Yeah, that probably would have played out better. But it wasn't like he could count on Kagome to keep her mouth shut when she woke up.

Koenma broke the tension slightly when he smacked his forehead. "That's right! You two were fighting right before we got that box with… erm, the box," he finished quickly, not wanting to bring that up right now. "You both mentioned being in dreams, and…" he trailed off. "The Jagan! Shit, Hiei, you mentioned the Jagan being controlled! Why didn't you bring that up again after we all forgot when the box came?"

"Screw the Jagan, Toddler, why the fuck is he with Kagome in dreams doing _that_?" snarled Yusuke.

All eyes turned back towards Hiei. "Well, Hiei? What's going on?" Koenma was staring pensively down at the detective that was the greatest liability of the group.

"I don't think he knows, Koenma." Kurama, apparently done holding his silence, decided to try and defend his friend. "He hasn't been telling me _everything_, but he has had some problems with the Jagan. Someone tried to take control at one point, and he managed to kick the demon out of his head. He has also had an out of body experience that is probably related to the Jagan as well."

Koenma swore briefly before narrowing his eyes at Hiei. "Tell it all, now."



Hiei sighed dramatically. "Fine. Someone tried to take over the Jagan. Once I figured out what was going on, I kicked them out of the Jagan. Another time I had a dream where I couldn't control any of my actions and I looked different. Turns out I was experiencing the past through someone else's body, Kagome's past, as it were. And…" he hesitated, looking over at Yusuke, who was remarkably holding onto his temper in the face of reason, "I've had a few dreams with Kagome. She apparently shares them as well. That's it."

"And you couldn't bother telling any of us this?" Koenma stared aghast at the Koorime.

"I didn't want you to think I was losing control of the Jagan. You made it very clear when I joined the team that if I did so, I would be executed with all due speed."

"Shit, Shorty, this could have helped up figure out the mystery a long time ago." Hiei glared at Kuwabara.

"Hardly. How can this information help you at all now?"

Koenma rubbed his brow, trying to piece together the puzzle. "You and Kagome share something, some bond. That much is clear. You both switch off on powers upon physical contact. Apparently, you and she also share dreams, and you have contact with her memories."

"We already knew all this! What use was seeing what you did if it only recaps what we already kno-"

"Naraku has a connection to the Jagan." Yusuke glared at Hiei while making his announcement.

"Why would you say that?" Hiei belligerently stuck his chin out, daring the detective to say he didn't have sole control.

"He tried to take it over. He has to have a connection to be able to do that in the first place. And, he has to have a connection to connect you and Kagome that closely."

Hiei struggled to wrap his mind around this accusation. "Impossible," he said at last. "I would have felt it if he lingered."

"Would you have, Hiei? If his first attack was so violent, would you have noticed something much more subtle? Especially with you losing the Jagan at times. You didn't even notice until you tried to use the Jagan. He could be dulling your connection towards it." Kurama was looking at Hiei as if her were a puzzle.

The interrogation stopped when they heard a low moan. Collectively, everyone swiveled to look at Kagome. She shook her head slightly in the bonds, trying to wake herself up from the hazy state she had been stuck in. She blinked slowly, letting the TV in front of her come into focus, once again back to white static now that the link was broken.

She looked around the room, picking up the tension.

"So… What did you all find out?" Please, God, don't let it have been the Jewel.

Yusuke glared at his cousin. "So… You and Hiei?"

Kagome's eyes widened. "You saw that? What happened to passing over any personal moments? What the hell did you see? Did you sit and watch me in the bathroom, too? Oh my god, you are all perverts!"

Koenma snorted. "Get real. We came upon this accidentally. And this, this isn't something that has no bearing on the case. Holy shit, you two! You should have come forth with this! At the very least, we could have stopped the dreams." He shrewdly looked at them both. "Or did you both want those to continue?"

Kagome and Hiei both looked at Koenma as if he were crazy.

"You mean," she finally spoke up, "that you could have stopped them?"

"Shit," muttered Hiei. "That would have helped a long time ago."

"What the hell does that mean? You don't think I'm good enough?"

Kuwabara sucked in a lungful of air. The shit was about to hit the fan.

"Of course not, you idiot! I would not ever willingly sleep with you."

"Hey, there is nothing wrong with Kagome, Hiei!" Yusuke shouted, trying to defend his cousin.

Kagome's shout drowned out Yusuke's. "You ass! You didn't seem to object in the heat of the moment! What, no self control?"

"It was Naraku," Hiei threw out offhandedly, turning his shoulder away slightly. "He controlled the dreams, and thus he had to be controlling my actions."

Kagome's gasp practically knocked her over. "Like hell! He wasn't controlling anything! You wanted to go all the way with me! You took the initiative!"

"If he can control the Jagan, put us together in a dream, _and_ switch our powers, then he can certainly control how a dream goes. Maybe it's simply a planted fabrication."

Kagome opened her mouth to talk, could think of nothing to say, and snapped it closed again. "You asshole," she muttered.

"What would he gain from these dreams?" asked Kurama. "He did mention watching Kagome as we were, except in a much more lewd manner. He mentioned another woman, too. A Kikyou. Is he living out his fantasies through these two?"

Kagome looked at Kurama with horror. That could possibly be the grossest thing ever. Naraku had had fantasies about Kikyou from the beginning, about sleeping with her, being with her, killing her… Was he using her to fulfill those?

"Tell me, Kagome, what do you know of Kikyou?"

She let out a kind of strangled choke at his words.

"Ah, this must mean I have hit upon something with my musings. Who is she?"

Kagome decided she wasn't going to share a single word about Kikyou. She had nothing to do with what was happening now, nothing at all. She hadn't even been heard from in hundreds of years. Chances are that she finally died. Somehow…

Her intricate thought processes were interrupted by the TV flickering to life once more.

Gazes flicked over to the screen (damn electrical demons again…) and quickly filled with dread. Kagome heard Yusuke stifle a cry. Keiko was center screen, foot chained to the ground in a dingy room. Kagome forced back feelings of familiarity. It would do no good to tell the detectives that she had been held in that very room; she didn't remember where it was. Even though she had run from there. Her mind had been filled with thoughts of never returning, so a map to his lair hadn't been top priority.

Keiko clearly didn't have any idea that there was a camera on her. That thought sickened her, and she was suddenly glad that there hadn't been technology five hundred years ago.

Keiko sat hunched by the ring in the floor holding her down. Her face was hidden against her knees. She looked dejected. And frail. Kagome could make out the bruises coloring her light skin.

Kieko twitched as the sound of the door opening filtered throughout the cell before trying to make herself more inconspicuous, hunching further.

"Why hello, Keiko, darling." Naraku's drawling voice took the place of the screeching door. "It turns out that the detectives you are putting so much faith in to rescue don't care enough to try and find you. Your _boyfriend_" his lip curled back as he said the word, "is too busy with his cousin to remember you."

Kagome felt Yusuke twitch next to her. She saw his hands clench into fists out of the corner of her eye.

"So, we had to cook up a little video to send to Yusuke. Turn your head to the corner, Keiko, and say hi to the camera. Why, in just a few hours, Yusuke will be watching our time spent together." The room held its breath as Keiko slowly peeked up and finally saw the lens focused on her. Yusuke gave a small cry as he saw the blackeye.

"It seemed to me that your friends just didn't appreciate the terror that poor Kagome went through, seeing the people she treasured be devoured. Therefore, I find it fitting to show them." Keiko physically jerked as his words penetrated her stupor. She turned terrified eyes up to Naraku.

"No, please. Please don't. I'll do anything. Just don't do that to me!" Her voice started as a whisper and ended in a moan. She began to tremble as she looked in his pitiless red eyes.

Naraku looked at the camera, glee on his face. "Why, it was just a few days ago that I showed dear Keiko here what I can do with a spare body and soul. Unfortunately, no one she knew. Her relatives are hardly worth the energy expended during the process. It was some helpless demon I found wandering around my land. She was appalled, to say the least, at the poor _human_ cries that the demon gave off."

He reached down and grabbed her arm.

"Let's hear what kind of cries you give Keiko," he hissed out.

Keiko began screaming weakly as Naraku began pulling her towards him. It was clear to all that it had happened before, had practically become routine.

He stretched out her hand by flexing his wrist. He slowly forced her forward until her palm was flat upon his naked chest, the end of her scabbed over pink easily seen by all.

Her whimpers stopped as nothing happened and her shoulders fell slightly as tension left.

He looked at the camera. "For you, detectives."

And her hand began to sink into his chest.

Her screams picked up then, loud and ragged. One after the other, barely pausing to get breath, Keiko screamed. Her eyes frantically went to the camera, begging for help. Her other arm kept trying to beat Naraku away. He ignored her feeble attempts, and glared into the camera.

It seemed like his beady eyes bore into her own, specifically finding her in the crowd. Kagome shivered slightly at the intensity in his eyes.

Keiko had sunk in up to her elbow, the skin farther up on her arm puckering and turning a purplish tinge.

That was when he stopped, stopped pushing her arm entirely.

"It is your choice, Yusuke. You control your team, and you must make the final decision." Naraku looked down on Keiko with a look that could only be described as wistfully. "While I 

would enjoy eating darling Keiko here, I'd rather have Kagome here in my arms." His eyes swiveled to the camera again.

"So, I am giving you one ultimatum, Detective. Fail this time, and you won't be seeing your woman again. Bring me Kagome. Bring me your cousin to trade for your _girlfriend_. I'll know what you decide, and I'll be in touch with the directions if you chose the right path."

He slowly began pulling Keiko's arm out of his chest, until it was just the palm resting on his chest once more. Kagome cringed at the sickly tone of color Keiko's arm had become. It was a mottled purple, with the fingers slightly blackened.

"You have one day, Yusuke." And the screen went blank.

The room was silent, and Kagome stared as hard as she could at a blank wall as she ignored all the stares turned her direction.

"Well." Koenma tried to break the silence but couldn't think of anything to say. "I guess we know she's still alive."

Kagome held back a snort of laughter. She'd probably get smacked if she laughed out loud.

"What do we do?" asked Kuwabara. He turned to look at Yusuke. "What do you want us to do? It's your choice. Kagome… or Keiko?"

Kagome swallowed past a suddenly tight throat. After all that had happened between them, would Yusuke choose her? Or the woman that he had been missing since the beginning?

Yusuke look away and turned, running a hand through his hair. "I… I don't know. What can we do? Is there… is there a way to save them both?"

It seemed as if he was pretending that she wasn't there. It probably helped him think of the situation in a bit of a more rational tone. Damn if she didn't want to sway his decision by having hysterics right there. He probably wouldn't sacrifice her then. Kagome opened her mouth to speak right before she was interrupted.

"Let's do it. Let's take him up on his ultimatum. Let's give him Kagome for Keiko." Kagome snapped her mouth shut with an audible clack. She turned wide eyes towards Kurama.

"Wh-what?" she stuttered out.

"You are of no use to us, Kagome. You won't give us the Jewel. If it's a choice, I think everyone hear would rather have Keiko than you. You have been nothing but trouble, and that is a mild description. You've put us all at risk with your stupid hopes of saving that halfbreed."

Hiei was eyeing his friend critically. "How do you know Naraku wouldn't be able to get the Jewel from her now?"

"We wipe her mind. Completely and utterly." Everyone turned.

"The words right out of my mouth, Koenma." Kurama's grin was predatory.

"We take away her mind, and she can't tell him of the Jewel. It remains as safe as it was before."

"But we can't leave her with him." Yusuke whispered brokenly. "We can't just sacrifice her to him."

Kurama's voice turned kind. "Yusuke, if we take her mind completely, she wouldn't be cognizant. She wouldn't know of what was happening around her. And she wouldn't know how she had gotten there." How he had betrayed her was the unspoken statement.

Kagome felt trapped. The conversation was happening to fast around her. But she had to stop them. She had to interrupt.

"Yusuke?" She whispered. "You're going to give me up to him?"

Yusuke stifled a moan.

She turned wide eyes to Kuwabara. "You're going to let them destroy me, aren't you? Taking a mind means nothing to you? Nothing at all? How can you condone that?"

"It's not going to work, Kagome." The words were quiet but firm. She looked over at the small man in the corner. "They aren't going to be swayed, and you are going to be traded."

She thrust out her chin. She was helpless. She had no heroes amongst this group of men. She had no one to save her. And she couldn't save herself. "Fine. Do it, then. I'll at least have the satisfaction of none of you ever getting your filthy hands on the Jewel."

"Maybe," Kuwabara's voice was hesitant, "Maybe if she gave us the Jewel. Could we come to a compromise then?"

Koenma turned tired eyes to the most innocent of the detectives. "She won't give up the Jewel, Kuwabara. And even if she did, it wouldn't save Keiko. That path is no longer going to save anything. I don't see another way."

Yusuke turned and faced Kagome. "Kagome. What do I do? I can't save you both? Who do I save? What we had between us, it's… gone. And that's never going to come back. Can you blame me for trying for what I have now? What's still there?"

Kagome's eyes turned hard as she realized the inevitability. And Yusuke was asking for forgiveness.



She closed her eyes and leaned back in the chair, the rope digging hard into her side.

She wondered what it would be like, inside Naraku. Would she still have a mind – even after the detectives got rid of it? Would she feel pain or emotions? Most likely. Would the others be there?

Kagome let a small hope build inside of her. If nothing else, she would finally be able to see Inuyasha again.

And they would be together again. Until Naraku's death do them part.

She snorted. Oh, the irony. Kagome decided it was time to tune out everyone around her planning her death, first mentally, then physically. She wondered whether any of them would see it as two deaths. Did they really think no mind meant no pain? Her body would still feel it, feel the agony of being tortured.

Kagome idly wondered if Naraku could reverse whatever the fiends were going to do to her. It seemed as if the detectives' plan was full proof. She opened her eyes and turned randomly towards the desk.

Her gaze sharpened on the still form of a fuzzy eight legger. Why would Koenma have a spider on his desk? Didn't he know anything? That Naraku would be listening through the spider…

Kagome mentally smacked her head. Of course, their spy. No wonder Naraku knew everything. And the detectives here were too stupid to figure it out, right in front of them. She opened her mouth to say just how stupid they all were, when just how useful that spider could be occurred to her.

Naraku obviously wouldn't want her mind destroyed. She had no chance in hell of stopping the detectives. But maybe Naraku could. If she left the bug where it was, he would know all their plans, know how to stop them.

He could save her.

In a roundabout manner, true, but it would be better than being mindfucked for life.

Even though Keiko would die.

She herself would live.

Kagome stared resolutely at the spider sitting all alone on the desk before firmly closing her eyes.

She made her decision, and now could only wait for the repercussions.

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(Be brutal in your critiques! Be honest and tell me what y'all think. Especially about that fight scene in the beginning. Not really liking that myself, but couldn't seem to get it any better. Otherwise, Enjoy!)


	17. Chapter 17

_**Ultimatum**_

_Chapter 17_

_Boxing King_

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So who wants to talk about a long intermission? Anyone? Anyone at all? I'm so sorry! I can't believe it took me that long to update! But, still, it's an update. It's not as long as the last three have been, but it's not necessarily short. It's the fourth longest chapter, in fact. So, hopefully everyone likes it. I really liked how it started to flow for me, so hopefully that translates well over to all the readers. Everyone let me know! I'm starting to get caught up in school, so maybe more time to write is in my future. I just thought of like three twists I can toss in while writing this chapter, so good stuff in the future. Thanks for sticking with me, everyone!

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Kagome opened her eyes with a lazy blink, letting the fuzzy settings come into focus. She must have fallen asleep while waiting for the detectives to finish discussing her mental obliteration. Not something anyone would particularly want to stay awake for. Smothering a yawn, she took a good look around - it was clear she had been removed from that damn office and untied. And placed into a nice comfy bed, with several giant feather pillows, and a wonderfully squishy mattress that allowed her to sink several inches.

Right, as if the Spirit World would have something so nice for a prisoner. She doubted this was their version of a last request – even guilt wouldn't be able to procure a room so lavish, when the only one in residence would have to be the Prince's…

Ick. Ick! Like she wanted to be stuck in a bed that he had used! If they had really put her in his bedroom…

Kagome threw back the covers viciously, taking out some of her frustration on the inert fabric. If only she had someone to punch.

So intent was Kagome on getting out of the cootie-infested bed, she almost stepped on Hiei.

Her foot grazed his shoulder just as she looked down. She leaped back with a muffled squeak.

What the hell was he doing in _her_ bedroom? Of all the nerve! She looked at the little Koorime carefully. He looked asleep. Narrowing her eyes, Kagome decided that just wouldn't do.

Taking careful aim, she planted her foot right in his gut and stepped out of bed. She stepped hard.

A grim smile etched its way upon her face at the whoosh of air he expelled. He sat up swiftly, a hand coming to his forehead. Kagome hoped the bastard had a rip roaring headache. He deserved no less. Maybe she should have stepped on him there.

It appeared as if he was having trouble waking up, as it were. She nudged him with her toe.

"What the hell are we doing here, demon?" His crimson eyes slowly focused on her.

"Why the hell would I know?"

"You gave off the air of a know-it-all ass, so I figured you might have a clue."

Hiei narrowed his eyes at her. "Well, look what meek, little, cowardly kitten finally woke up."

"Just in time to bite you," she drawled sweetly. "Now why are we here?"

She saw his eyes dart around before shrugging. "No idea. Where is here? And why am I on the floor?"

Kagome looked around the austere bedroom, populated solely by the bed, before answering. "I kind of figured we were in Koenma's room – I doubt anyone else would have a bed this nice. As to you sitting on the floor, you probably sat your ass down there once you saw that my gracious self was occupying the bed."

"Ah, and here I thought you pushed me out of the bed," Hiei said dryly. He leaned back against the bed with a strangely satisfied smirk on his face. "Tell me this, oh-great-one-who-has-this-all-figured-out, what are we doing here? You may be in the proverbial jail, but I'm not. Why would they stick me in here with you? Torture?"

Kagome seriously debated kicking the man. "There was a reason I woke you up. If I knew…"

"Ah…" Hiei trailed out. "You are obtuse." Kagome's spine stiffened. "We aren't in Koenma's room. I happen to know his at least has a door. Just think a minute, where have we been appearing together lately?"

Oh, hell. She was stuck in a dream again. With _him_.

Of all the nerve! "Get out." She turned furious eyes on him. "You can just get the hell out of my dream, you damn demon! You have that third eye – use it and begone!"

Hiei rolled his eyes from his prone position. "Yes, because that has worked in the past, woman. We are stuck until one of us wakes up."

Maybe she should kick him. Maybe the shock to his dream body would wake him up.

Hiei practically laughed. "I can tell what you are thinking, idiot. Do you honestly think in a fight that you would win?"



She narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "If you don't have your third eye working, then how can you tell?"

"Your face gives it all away." He leaned back and closed his eyes. "In the meantime, I'm going to try and go back to sleep. Feel free and entertain yourself."

Kagome practically threw herself back on the bed. Just what was she supposed to be doing until one of them woke up? It wasn't like they were going to be throwing themselves at each other anytime soon. Which, a small part of her registered, was a pity.

The silence lasted for about three minutes before Kagome cracked. There was too much going on in her life for her to just sit and wait for things to pass by. Especially since she seemed to suddenly be on an extremely limited amount of time.

"So, since we are connected mind to mind, do you think sucking out my brain would affect you?"

Kagome felt the bed rock as he abruptly straightened. She smiled happily. She could only hope that was the case. It would serve them all right. Maybe she should try and connect herself to more people. Maybe, just maybe, if she connected herself to enough people, they would hesitate before obliterating her mind. Too bad she had no idea how to do it on purpose.

"We aren't connected mind to mind," he flatly spoke, denying any possibility.

"Come now, Hiei. Use that magnificent brain of yours. We are sharing a dream right now. Our powers fluctuate based on touch. You've been in my past, if what I've overheard is correct. So, we must be connected some way."

Kagome fell silent, letting the accusation irritate him.

"For that matter, doesn't really seem like Naraku is controlling the dream, now does it? I mean, why he would want us to sit here and talk… Especially if that meant me finding a way out of this mess. Gotta admit that mistake, too, Hiei. You are attracted to me." She stated that last bit with satisfaction. Him refusing had damaged her womanly pride.

He snorted in reply, and tried to make the atmosphere at oppressing as possible. If only he could shut her up. Like a TV with a controller.

"How is it that you fell asleep when everyone was holding their group meeting on the best possible way to screw me over?" Apparently it wasn't oppressing enough. "I would have thought you would want to participate."

Still he didn't answer, refusing to even acknowledge her.

"You could have hardly just gone to sleep with everyone there. I doubt they would have let you



Kagome turned thoughtful eyes down to the man in question. "Did you not want to see it happen, Hiei? Does my termination bother you?"

She decided to take his silence as assent. "That's strangely… sweet."

At that, Hiei just had to protest. "Hardly. The process is just boring, woman. I left the room in boredom. I apparently fell asleep in the hallway."

"Do you mean to say it's going on now? That this, this pitiful room and dream with you stuck in it, is my 'last request'?"

"Yup," Hiei muttered with just a touch of pleasure. Would serve her right to have a shitty last request.

"You do realize that if they are doing it now, with you here, then they most likely don't know you are asleep. They could very well suck out your mind right now, by accident."

Hiei jerked. Fuck, she was right. They had no idea he was here, and there was a pretty good chance that mind-fucking her would have some consequence upon him.

He had to get out!

Hiei suddenly leaned forward, crossed his legs, and put himself in the meditating position. It was time to wake himself up. He cleared his mind, striving for a perfectly blank slate. He let no thoughts creep in and interrupt him. Not the sweet smell next to him, wafting off the bed. Or the very fact that there _was_ a bed and beautiful women occupying it an inch behind him. When he finally achieved this, he let one word center in his head: wake. He imagined himself waking up, coming back to full consciousness, leaving the room and Kagome behind. He imagined his eyes waking up, the grogginess of wakening from a deep sleep. He tried to picture it as fully as he could in his mind.

He opened his eyes.

He woke staring at a plain, white wall.

"Didn't work, just so you know," spoke Kagome. "I figured I should say it just in case you thought you had succeeded. Wanted to give you that big letdown."

Hiei snarled and turned into a crouch to face Kagome.

"What do you know, woman?" The question startled Kagome.

"About what?" she innocently asked.

"Don't be coy. You act like you know something. You aren't hysterical at the prospect of your mind being wiped. You aren't begging for your life. You must know something we don't."

"Can't I have just accepted my death? I did try to commit suicide. If nothing else, going to my death, the Jewel would still be safe."

"No, I don't believe that of you."

"You know me that well, a woman you only kiss because you are being controlled? I think not."

"You don't have a look of resignation about you, which was distinctly present when you first came to Yusuke's house. You look ready to leave at the first possibility."

"Why would I not want to get away from any room that has you in it?"

"You think there is a way for this to be stopped, for your mind to be saved."

"I don't see how you can assume so much, Hiei. But it doesn't really matter. I'll get out of this without you knowing shit."

She ignored the glare she could feel being sent in her direction.

"I really hope your mind gets sucked out with mine," she expelled on a sigh. "That would just be perfect."

"How do you think we are connected? Since you came up with this theory, you must have some idea of how it works."

What a good question. Kagome closed her eyes, trying to give herself all possible preparation to think. Of course, if she figured that out, maybe Hiei would use it to break free. Ok, not even a maybe there – obviously he would do everything possible to screw her over. She should probably make something up, but if truth be told, she was curious as well. How could Naraku control her power? Be immune to it? It wasn't like she could beat him without her powers.

"You knew Naraku. Maybe you know him now. Work with him. Are _you_ connected to him?"

His snort was her only answer.

"Well, how else do you propose he sneaks about your mind, using you like a dancing marionette?"

"Through you, how else? The Jagan is singular to me, to my mind. Not just anyone can sneak in and use the damn thing. It has to be your fault. Just like this whole mess is."

"Just like a sexist man, blaming a woman for everything. I am not, unfortunately for you, your Pandora. It's not like I wanted to peek inside your box. Your box is screwed up. You have issues."



Hiei snorted. "Who doesn't? You, oh great woman who tried to commit suicide? And if you want to try and suddenly use metaphors, consider the fact that it wasn't until you came here that we had any troubles, that I had any troubles. So, yeah, you opened my "box"."

"Pandora opened the box out of curiosity and apparent stupidity – she had intent. I don't. Try again."

"Accordingly, Pandora couldn't help herself. Just like you couldn't help it when you came here."

"Well, I wasn't given to you, so the whole damn concept doesn't work."

"Damn straight, it doesn't. I would never be stupid enough to accept you."

"No, just stupid enough to get stuck in my mind."

Hiei dramatically looked to the ceiling. "I give up arguing with someone so dense." They both fell silent for a moment.

"You know," Kagome spoke up, "if I were Pandora, I would withhold hope just to spite you."

"You just had to get the last word in, didn't you?"

Kagome shrugged. "Gotta win something."

"How do you know I had hope in the first place?"

"Well, that's just depressing. Certainly suits your personality."

"I didn't have some nice family atmosphere to grow up in. What do you expect?"

"A deranged lunatic."

"Tadah!" Hiei shook his hands in the air. "Do I get to kill you now?"

"Now or later, that seems to be everyone's intent," Kagome said, killing the somewhat jovial mood.

After a pause, "Just what would you have us do? Is there an easy solution that we just aren't seeing?"

Kagome didn't have an answer, and succumbed again to the awkward silence that was common between them.

This time it was Hiei who broke the tension. "How is he doing it? How is he controlling us?"



"Again, no idea. But consider this, maybe he's keeping us here, you here, because wiping our minds is to his benefit. If your mind is gone, you can't fight, and the opposing forces suddenly just lost a valuable asset. That may have been why you couldn't wake yourself up."

"That doesn't make sense. Your mind has to be there for him to go back and look through it. He has no other way to locate the Jewel. That's why we are going through with this."

"Are you sure there's no other way? Absolutely sure?"

He looked at her in disgust. "Yes."

"Then maybe you're here as an exchange of whose mind gets sucked out."

Hiei warily looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"They perform the 'sucking', as it were, and a mind is removed. It just doesn't happen to be my mind. All Naraku has to do to keep the charade going is to keep me here, where I can't act in my own body. It will look like I'm unconscious, in which I am given over to Naraku, mind intact, fully able to recount the location of the Jewel." Which wasn't exactly what she had had in mind when hoping for Naraku to save the situation.

"No," he forcefully denied, "no. They'll realize something is wrong when they can't wake me up. They wouldn't go through with it."

"Assuming they find you. You have no idea how you actually fell asleep, do you? Let alone if it's in a hallway." She leaned forward on her elbows to look at him.

"No," he whispered.

"He controlled you…"

"But how?" he burst out, looking at her, face contorted in rage. "The Jagan is supposed to be impregnable against invasion. It was one of the reasons I got the damn thing. Naraku has no talent that would enable him to do anything with the psyche! So, how?"

Kagome flopped back down.

"Let's consider the options," Hiei finally ground out, staving off his growing panic with logic.

"Fine. Option one?"

"Option one… Option one, he got the Jagan himself. Either had it implanted or swallowed someone who did."



"Not bad, not bad at all. I can't see him getting the Jagan. And I didn't notice one on his forehead when I saw him. Do you know who else has gotten the Jagan? Anyone missing lately?"

Hiei went silent in thought. "Maybe five people have ever gotten the Jagan and survived, including me. I've killed three others and the fourth, as far as I know, is still sitting on her mountain."

"So, cross out one."

"Yeah," Hiei intoned monotonously, "cross out one."

"So… number two?"

"Number two is you. What are your connections to Naraku, Kagome?"

She jerked her head up heatedly. "You just can't believe me, can you? I hate the bastard! Is that enough of a connection for you?"

"Calm down. I didn't mean in that manner. But you were his enemy for how many years? There must be things that connect the two of you together. Does he have a piece of the Jewel?"

"No," she said in disgust, "he doesn't. And it's not like I left a piece of myself lying around for him to just pick up. I'm not that du-" She suddenly snapped her mouth closed.

Hiei jerked around to look at her. "What, what is it? What did you just think of?"

"Kikyou," she whispered.

"What? The priestess that guarded the Jewel? She died. What the hell does that have to do with anything?"

"She's not dead. Well, I mean, she wasn't. She might be now…"

"Woman, I warn you, start making some sense…"

"Kikyou was resurrected with my soul, probably in a similar way as to what you guys will be doing with my mind. When we got my soul back, she managed to keep part of it, keeping herself alive." Kagome turned horrified eyes to Hiei. "She has a part of me, inside her. A part that Naraku had access to."

"You jackass! You mean you left a part of your soul lying around out there, and never bothered to get it back? Just how stupid are you?"

"Well, of course I tried to get it back! I just happened to not be successful, is all…" she trailed off lamely.

Hiei felt like smacking his forehead. "Is all? Is all! Do you realize that you can't die if you don't have all your soul? When you committed suicide, you probably would have actually died if you had all your soul."

Kagome's eyes opened wider. "Really? That's why I didn't die? Jesus, so I can't ever die? I'll just heal? And you wanted to put me in his clutches? Are you insane? Does torture have any meaning to you people?" Kagome stood up on the bed. "What's the matter with you? Don't any of you have any empathy?"

"Oh, sit down. It's not like it's happening right now."

"Right now? Right now! You immoral jackass! You, you-"

"Enough already. Let's get back to Kikyou." Kagome flopped down on the bed and put her head in hands. "We have an undead priestess wandering the land. I think, at this point, it's safe to assume that Naraku ate her. Which means he ate a part of you. And there's the connection." Hiei got up and began to pace. "Which means, to get rid of the connection, to stop this, we have to kill Naraku." Which would hopefully terminate the connection between the two of them.

"Wait a minute. You said we couldn't get anything back from Naraku. You all said that, that we couldn't save Inuyasha."

"We can't."

"Then we can't get my soul back?" she whispered her plea.

Hiei avoided looking her in the eyes. "No."

"I can never die," she brokenly muttered. "I'm never going to be able to join my family. I'll never… never see Inuyasha again." Slowly, tears began to trickle down her cheeks.

Hiei swore softly to himself. He didn't know what to do when women cried. But damn if he could just sit there and let her do it. Her future was awful, even he could admit that. Even he would not want to live forever. Immortality was a bitch.

"Uh, so, don't worry. I won't lock you in a room… like that one Greek goddess did to her lover when he grew too feeble to live…"

"You're not even my lover!" she wailed, burying her face in the pillows.

At this point Hiei gave up. He would relish waking up right now. If Naraku was keeping him here, he was probably laughing at the torture.

"Just, just stop crying, ok!"



"Why? I'm doomed to forever walk the world alone with assholes like you! You'll outlast all the humans and we'll be stuck together forever! And even then, you'd be able to die!"

A lie, he needed a lie!

"Maybe, maybe when we kill Naraku, whatever he absorbed will move on." Even to his own ears he sounded desperate. "Your soul will just float out and find you. Ok?"

Kagome ceased crying momentarily to look up at him. "You think so? You really think that could work?"

Hiei looked down at her tear-streaked face. "Y-yeah. Of course. Naraku's soul (or lack of) has to go somewhere, so it goes to follow that everything else will too"

She swiped her palms under eyes. "Th-thank you, Hiei."

He nodded once quickly, walking to the other side of the room. "Uhuh." He cleared his throat. "Sooo, when do you think we'll wake up?"

And finally in front of him appeared a door.

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	18. Chapter 18

_**Ultimatum**_

_Chapter 18_

_Boxing King_

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Short, but at least out quick. Let me all know what you think! Did you feel the tension?? Did you like it?? Review, I beg!

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It never occurred to Hiei to stop and question whether he should go through the door or not. He just went. Because whatever they had going on between them now, it still came down to his mind or hers. And Hiei always looked out for number one. It was how he had stayed alive for so long.

The door had appeared, and he had only spared one look back for her. One glance, which took in her shock at the door appearing and then her surprise as he took off with a burst of speed.

"H-Hiei!" Kagome choked out, lunging off the bed after him. The door closed with a snap well before she could reach it. She lunged hard at the knob, trying to pull it open. The room began to echo with her thuds as she pounded on the door.

"Hiei! Open the door! Please, Hiei! Let me come with you!" She watched in disbelief and horror as the door started to fade and disappear in seconds. She fell to her knees.

He had left her. All alone, trapped within her mind. After all they had said to each other, the banter, the arguments. She had stupidly thought it meant something. Something stupid along the lines of Hiei not being a complete bastard, and maybe him helping her. How foolish. How naïve. How typically Kagome.

All he cared about was himself and his own damn mind.

Kagome felt faint. They were going to do it, they were going to throw her to the wolves. Naraku was going to get her with a body that couldn't be destroyed. Her only saving grace would have been the detectives taking her mind away, and now that might not even happen.

Hiei was such an idiot, anyways. Any other time they had woken up, it had just happened. No magic door had suddenly appeared that they needed to go through. She'd bet her right eye that the door was put there by Naraku. Probably, she wouldn't have wanted to go through the door anyways. Maybe, going on Naraku's sense of humor, it would just lead to him, and he would beat the shit out of Hiei. The little wretch deserved it. But that meant that the bastard Naraku had some control over the dreams. And that their supposition had been right.

God, she should have just told the Detectives about the spider and let the punishment happen. Now it was going to be far worse. Far, far worse.

Kagome felt a scream building in her throat. She swallowed convulsively, trying hard not to snap. A tear leaked out the corner of her eye.

Her life sucked. There were no two ways about it. Whoever was up there must hate her. Sure, she lived on a shrine, one would think that would have given her some bonus points or something. Guess not after her attempted suicide. That or she was just a bad person. That was probably it.

Another tear dripped down.

Was it possible for her to commit suicide in her head? Would that obliterate her mind, effectively leaving Naraku with nothing?

She looked around for something to do the deed with. Her eyes landed on the sheets of the luscious bed. A hanging. How perfect.

Yet even as she thought it the bed disappeared. Naraku knew her, had a part of her within him. He was making sure she didn't do what must seem obvious to him. No, he wasn't going to let her escape.

No, Kagome corrected herself, he wasn't going to let the Jewel escape.

With that thought Kagome finally gave in, curled in upon herself on the floor and cried, her sobs echoing desolately around the empty room.

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Hiei heard the door thud closed behind him and turned to look. He could hear Kagome crying, trying to follow him, her anguish coming through the door clearly.

He thought about it, about opening the door and having her come with. Chances were that the door wasn't going to get him out of there anyways. He still turned away, his back to the cries. They were going to hand her over the bad guy if he got out of her. It would be a bad idea to suddenly get friendly with the sacrifice.

So he looked forward.

It was a blank hallway, decorated in the same manner as the bedroom. Which meant it was all a nice pale white. An endless white. Hiei, with his demon eyes, could see no end to the tunnel.

Obviously there weren't a whole lot of choices. He could either go back into the room, or he could move forward.

This time he didn't spare a glance backwards.

Hiei walked for what seemed like hours. Time had no meaning in the blank tunnel. When he finally saw a door, it seemed like it was a mirage, something that his mind had made up out of desperation for not having any idea of what to do should this tunnel lead nowhere.

It was a small, innocuous door. He stared at it for a moment before twisting the handle gingerly.

The door swung open into a black room, so dark Hiei could see nothing in front of him. He moved forward slowly.

Outwardly he showed no fear, inwardly he was beginning to worry. He didn't have his sword on him, courtesy of Naraku most likely. While he was hardly a sitting duck, it wasn't like he was at his best. With a start Hiei realized that he had begun to rely on his weapon a little too much. Not safe in his profession. Your weapon could always be taken away.

With a growl Hiei stopped walking and concentrated. His skin darkened to a dark olive color and small replications of the Jagan began popping up.

He still couldn't see shit.

Guess that meant he had to draw his enemy out. "Come out, come out wherever you are, you filthy halfbreed."

A scratchy laugh filled the room. "Insults have long since ceased to irritate me, Detective."

Fuck, it was Naraku. He had really been hoping he was wrong. "Then come out and fight, you coward."

"You sound like Yusuke, Hiei. Suddenly impatient. You wouldn't be on a timeline now, would you?" the amused voice asked.

Hiei practically choked. Fuck, that meant the gang was going through with it. God, why couldn't any of them realize that he wasn't in the room?

"Fight me, you arrogant prick!" he shouted into the gloom.

"As you wish."

Hiei could suddenly see a figure walking towards him in shadows. He didn't wait for Naraku to come to him, but lunged, claws pointed towards the throat.

Laughter began to fill the room, echoes bouncing off the walls.

"Try and kill me, you pathetic scum!"

The room lit up, and Hiei skidded to a halt, claws inches from his sister's neck. A cold sweat gelled on his back.

"Hiei," came her timid voice. "What's going on?" Hiei looked at her gazing at him in complete innocence.

"Do it, Hiei," came the voice from overhead. "Kill me, the only other person in this room. You know I can take forms. I did it to Kagome, there in the kitchen. Don't you remember?"

Hiei's hands began to lower. There was no way Naraku could be dressed as his Yukina. He had absorbed Inuyasha, and he hadn't absorbed her. This couldn't be Naraku.

"Do it, Hiei!"

Could it be him? How else would Yukina be in his mind, in this dream?

"DO IT, HIEI!"

His fingers seemed to rise of their own volition, trembling at her neck, indenting her pale, tender skin. But it was Yukina. His little, sweet sister. He couldn't kill Yukina.

"What's going on Hiei? Why are you hurting me?" Her voice held a slight quaver. "You wouldn't hurt your own sister, would you?"

Hiei screamed and plunged his claws through her neck and ripped her head off. He threw the head to the side, letting the carcass thud to the ground.

"Naraku, you bastard! Nice try, but she doesn't know I'm her brother." Hiei began to pant, looking down at his hands. It wasn't Yukina. Rationally, he knew this, but, Jesus, he had her blood all over his fingers.

He heard a small tinkle and frantically looked around. His eyes landed on her head. The eyes were looking up at him, pooling with tears. Another tear fell and he heard a small tinkle of glass as the jewel formed.

Why? the mouth silently formed. Why?

Hiei felt sick. He turned horrified eyes to his hands.

No.

He had to leave, get out. Hiei frantically turned towards the door, only to find it gone. Hiei began to pant, trying not to panic. Where the fuck was the door?

"Naraku!"

He turned again, eyes landing on the body.

"Naraku!" voice cracking.

He whirled once more only to face a tentacle ramming itself into his chest.

"Hiei?" questioned the voice. "Are you all right, Hiei? You seem to be having trouble breathing," it chuckled out.

Black spots began to cover his vision. His knees collapsed out from under him and he didn't even notice. Fuck, he was dying. Blood began to trickle down his chest, out from the edge of his mouth.

He closed his eyes regretfully. Was this what it was like to have your mind sucked out? All this pain?

He passed out.

And finally woke up staring into a worried pair of bright green eyes.

"Thank God, Hiei, we finally got you to wake up. We almost performed the surgery with you passed out."

Hiei blinked slowly. He was back out of the dream. Thank God. He hoped never to panic like that in real life. He wasn't a man built on breakdowns. And he sure as hell wouldn't ever kill Yukina.

He tried to sit up and only succeeded with Kurama's help. His eyes lost focus for a minute, and the words being spoken about the room became a dull roar. His head cleared to the words, " –'s ok, go ahead!"

Kagome!

Hiei lunged forward. "No! Wait!"

Kurama looked down at Hiei in concern. "It's too late Hiei, the deed is done."

Hiei looked up at him uncomprehendingly. "Her mind is gone, Hiei. What's the matter?"

He simple closed his eyes and sagged back down to the floor.

Oh God, Kagome.

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Back in the room Kagome began to feel a tugging at her gut. She stopped crying at the strange sensation and looked down at herself as the pull increased. Her body began to flicker and disappear. She choked on a horrified gasp. The pull became a hard knot of sensation and Kagome suddenly bowed her back in pain. A scream erupted from her throat and her fingers scrabbled on the floor for purchase as her body continued to flicker before finally disappearing.

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	19. Chapter 19

_**Ultimatum**_

_Chapter 19_

_Boxing King_

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Hiei was sprawled in a chair, trying to find a comfortable position. He normally could, and did, sit upright for hours, perfect posture. Good posture intimated superiority and control. However, his composure seemed to be failing him now as he stared at a limp vegetable. A limp Kagome, to be more precise. More than anything Hiei wanted to change that, to give her back her soul, or at the very least pull the proverbial plug. He could do neither. There was no plug to be pulled; without her full soul she couldn't die anyways. And there was no chance in hell that anyone was going to be letting him put her soul back. As of an hour ago, the soul was nicely bottled up, labeled with capital letters, and put in the vault.

Hiei shifted once more. He looked at the vacant eyes that slowly opened and closed, mimicking life. The body was laid out on an uncomfortable looking cot, covered in a light blanket. One thin arm was hooked up to an IV, as they had figured it the easiest way to pass on sustenance.

At least her mind was gone. Hiei had repeated this thought for much of the last hour. It provided only minimal consolation. Her mind was gone, but her body and nerves were still there. A soul had never been put back in a body before once it had been forcibly removed, so the argument of feeling pain had never been answered. Koenma had told him, or rather the group, that reinsertion had never successfully been attempted. Unlike in most cases, however, Kagome's body wouldn't suddenly die upon the massive trauma to the body that occurred when trying to put a soul back into a body that had become adapted to living without it. That said nothing of what happened to the soul; it took a strong mind to struggle through massive trauma intact. It was a very small consolation indeed.

The eyes blinked once more and the head turned to stare at Hiei. Hiei knew that it was mimicking actions in life, that the body was used to looking at things in a room, yet he couldn't stop the slight stiffening in his spine at what he deemed an accusatory glare.

Hiei couldn't quite fathom why he was feeling such guilt with this girl. It wasn't like they had truly bonded over anything. A little light banter, some sexual tension, and a common enemy. He couldn't even say that those circumstances were unique to her case. He had been alive a long time, and had found many an interesting woman over the years. Their minds were bonded, or at least had been, in which case he still had no idea why they had been connected. But was that link supplying the guilt? It was possible. They had theorized after all that it was that link that supplied the instant attraction, the instant lowering of morals that allowed them to come to that brink of having sex. It had to be that link that had allowed him to relive her memories. So, was it that link that was projecting that guilt? If she was making him feel guilty, then they were most definitely connected. Which meant Naraku still had a connection to him. That thought didn't sit well with Hiei at all.

He abruptly leaned forward and clasped his hands in front of his face, hiding the frown that was become more self-evident. His ears strained slightly at the slight footsteps he heard approaching, but he did not otherwise acknowledge the intruder.

"I brought you some tea, Hiei, for your vigil." Yukina's quiet voice clashed with the silence of the room.

"It's not a vigil." He couldn't quite seem to muster up as much sarcasm as his voice usually contained.

"Very well, for your guard then." She quietly sat down a silver tray in front of him, containing two tea cups.

"I prefer to 'guard' alone." His comment didn't leave room for argument.

Yukina ignored his veiled suggestion and sat before him to pour the tea. "Do you honestly believe that she will wake up? Her soul is contained."

Hiei stared briefly at Yukina before returning his eyes to the body. "We don't even have all of her soul."

She sipped briefly, contemplating what he had said. "Naraku has the rest of it?"

Hiei didn't bother to answer her. This intrusion into their solitude, his and the body's, was becoming rather irksome.

She took his silence for assent. "How terrible for Kagome, to have everything so divided."

Yukina glanced at Hiei, noted him not touching the tea she had provided. "Why do you insist on closing up, Hiei? I am here to listen, should you want."

Hiei's eyes turned hard. "Leave, Yukina." He could never open up to her; she could never know that she was his sibling. At the very least it was to prevent the actual event of his dream from happening. That dream was haunting him, turning it in a way prophetic. The best prevention was to keep her in the dark. Or rather light. He preferred to think of it as the light.

She studied him for a moment before bowing her head once and getting up to leave, leaving the tea cup she had been using sitting next to Hiei's.

The body's head turned to watch Yukina leave before returning to the ceiling.

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"Ok," Yusuke stated. "Ok. We did it, we… sucked out her mind. We have done the unthinkable." He turned away from the occupants of the room. Everyone was clustered together near Koenma's desk, seeking companionship in the face of their actions. The only one conspicuously absent was Hiei. Yusuke ran his fingers through his hair, trying to relieve some tension.

"What do we do next?" He turned back around, eyes searching out everyone else's.

"We trade her for Keiko. That was the plan, Yusuke. And that's what we will be sticking to." Kurama watched the Detective closely. Would he break? He had just destroyed his cousin, his own blood. He looked to be already regretting it.

Yusuke nodded quickly. "How do we contact him?"

Kurama frowned. "He has always contacted us, so I have no idea. Do we just go announce it to the ogres and hope that the spy contacts him?"

Koenma spun slowly in his chair at the desk. "Do you remember chasing down that demon that crossed over, before Kagome was even here?" Kurama and Kuwabara nodded. "He died before he could talk. We found a spider on him."

Kurama shook his head. "Of course," he muttered. "It was so obvious that we just ignored it. How could we have been so stupid?"

Kuwabara and Yusuke were looking blankly between Koenma and Kurama.

"The spider is the spy, Yusuke. It's just like a chip."

All eyes turned towards the spider on the desk.

Koenma leaned forward. "Naraku, we are prepared to trade." He waited a moment, and then suddenly slammed his closed fist down. He scrapped his hand clean before looking at Ogre. "Kindly rid us of this mess, Ogre."

Yusuke was looking with wide eyes at the spider. "We've been wrong about everything from the beginning," he whispered. "If only we had figured this out. We could have saved Kagome."

Kurama turned towards Yusuke and gripped his shoulders hard. "She condemned herself, Yusuke. By not trusting us and working against she made her future."

"But she was right," he muttered. "We can't protect everything in the vault. You and Hiei are evidence enough of that. And we are demons. Who are we to say that the Jewel would not call to us? And-" Kurama cut him off with a violent jerk.

"Cease, Yusuke. Stop berating yourself. What's done is done, we can't change the past. We must now look to the future. We need to get Keiko back. Or don't you want that anymore?"

Yusuke jerked out of his grasp. "You have no right to say that. I've sacrificed enough to get her back." He turned and walked quickly out of the room, not waiting for a reply.

Kurama considered the Detective a moment before Kuwabara's voice spoke up.

"Where is Hiei anyways? You wouldn't think he would want to miss any of the planning."

All three looked at each other.

Kurama let out an explicative and started jogging for the door. "Everyone spread out and start looking for him. Get the ogres to help." The room suddenly became a flurry of action as everyone was galvanized with a mission.

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Hiei was once again leaning back in the chair, hands crossed over his chest. He didn't move as once again he heard footsteps. This wasn't the first time they had come into this room, or even the third, and he could easily recognize them.

"It's been hours, Hiei. Would you like me to spare you in your vigil? Surely you must wish a break of some kind, a moment to stretch?"

Hiei stared solemnly at Kagome's body. "Go away, Yukina."

She ignored his directions and instead moved up to the body. "We need to change several of the bags now, and she needs to be turned. Help me?"

She didn't wait for his assent, but simply started changing things. Her unhurried and sure movements irritated Hiei. It was like she was taking possession of the body by being there, by taking care of it.

He watched until she began to shift the body, trying to move it on her own. He stood then, and went to gently lift Kagome. Yukina began to change pillows and sheets around. Kagome's head slowly turned to look at Hiei as he held her.

"Hiei," interrupted Yukina. "How do you feel about me?"

His eyes jerked to hers. He snarled at her. "Hurry up and then get out, Yukina. Don't come back."

"I know, you know. I know everything about us."

Hiei jerked, eyes narrowing. He clutched Kagome closer to his chest, eliciting a small squeak from her body.

"Who are you?"

"I am Yukina, Hiei. What is the matter?"

"You are not Yukina. Yukina would never act like this."

She ceased fixing the bed.

"You've never been around me enough to know how I would act, Hiei."

"I've watched you from afar long enough to know."

"Have you been spying on me, Hiei?" Her red eyes looked into Hiei's unflinchingly.

He didn't answer, instead choosing to suddenly look around the room. He could have sworn that he was in the palace in the Spirit World. It suddenly occurred to him that things were different, were just slightly off from how they should be. The biggest example of that was staring him in the face right now.

"Yukina, leave now before I unsheathe my sword and run you through." His voice was devoid of any inflection.

"Why Hiei, how could you do that? Your sword is gone, sucked into Naraku's body."

Hiei straightened even more. It seemed impossibly that the petit form of Yukina could appear threatening, but damn if she was.

Her red eyes seemed piercing as she continued to look at him unblinking. "You shouldn't have tried to kill me, Hiei. I didn't take it kindly." Her gaze slipped to Kagome's prone form. "Not kindly at all."

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I just had to leave you guys with a cliffy! I was feeling rather villainous, and I wanted to get this posted already. Finally! Short, but hopefully entertaining. I liked it. 


	20. Chapter 20

_**Ultimatum**_

_Chapter 20_

_Boxing King_

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Keiko huddled in on herself. The action didn't help, the pain was still there. She shuddered, trying not to cry. Crying wasn't going to help her. It might give her some momentary satisfaction and release, but the pain it later guaranteed would never be worth it. Naraku always got a kick out her crying, and whenever he saw her leak just one tear, he would do all he could to make it last.

He always knew, too. He always knew when she cried. It wasn't like it was after the fact, red eyes and a splotchy face, he always knew while she was in the middle of sobbing. She had long since figured that the evil man had some sort of device in the room to watch her. He was a perv first, an evil guy second; and like all pervs he liked to watch his victims.

Keiko didn't bother to glance around her to confirm the existence of the bugs crawling around the room. The demon had a huge spider tattoo on his back, and since he wasn't mortal, the mark most likely stood for something. It didn't take a genius to make the connection between his tattoo and the bugs. He could probably watch through a spider or something.

She briefly entertained the notion of Naraku having a little room littered with screens of various bugs before dismissing it, him sitting a chair drinking coffee and observing all the unknowing victims. The entire idea was too technical for the demon himself, not to mention the Makai. Besides, he'd probably drink something a bit more viscous than coffee.

Keiko had long since figured she was in the Makai – Yusuke and the others would have come for her already had she been in the mortal realm. The Makai was a bit more difficult for everyone involved.

Keiko hunched farther in on herself. She had found that if she hid herself as much as she could from the prying eyes of the supposed bug-spies, she didn't feel so invaded. Going to the bathroom was a real test.

Why hadn't they come for her yet? It was a thought that refused to leave her. All before, through the many mishaps that she had encountered through Yusuke's work, she had never really gone through anything like this. Sure, there had been that incident with Hiei, but there had never really been any lasting pain, any agony. And she had never been kept from home for so long.

Were they even coming for her? Did they care? Was the price of Naraku too high? Could they not find a way around it?

Keiko had too many questions without answers. As much as she would have liked to not think of any of it, there wasn't much else to do here. She could probably go on a bug squishing rampage, but she didn't want to go through the pain again. The first time she had squished a bug, she hadn't thought about it, hadn't thought about eradicating the thing from her presence. It hadn't taken her more than a second to think about it.

For some reason, Naraku had hated it. Told her she shouldn't treat creatures as expendable. He beat her senseless for that one bug. He repeated the performance for everyone after that. Was he worried she would find the spy? Or was she killing of potential hardware?

Another series of unanswerable questions.

Her arm twinged, and she glanced down at it. She had to look away.

The dead skin sloughed off whenever she moved. She had long since lost movement in her arm, almost up to her shoulder. It was like severe frostbite, except there was no remedy for her here. She could tell that. Her entire side tingled with what felt like burnt nerve endings. While she could feel nothing in her arm directly, the pain was still there in the rest of her body.

While she couldn't directly face her arm, Keiko had already become resigned to having lost it. Prosthetics weren't out of the picture. While unpleasing to look at, they provided her a limb where she would have none. Besides, vanity shouldn't matter to her in the face of her life. Should she keep her life, that is.

Keiko decided to think about her life, like most people do in the face of likely death.

Had it all been worth it? School wasn't over, but would certainly be necessary. And it wasn't like she hated school. All was well with her family, she loved them and they loved her. She didn't even have any lasting feuds that should be remedied before death.

The only consideration she had left was Yusuke. What would her life have been like without Yusuke? Perhaps the easiest question to answer, she wouldn't be here. She would have never had any life-threatening times in her life. She wouldn't be hassled as head of the class, as his friend, as a potential girlfriend. She wouldn't have had any strange looks from people. Her life would have been easier. But better? Yusuke was one of her best friends. Certainly her best guy friend. They had shared a lot of good times since they were little. He had protected her during some bad moments. He had always been there. Under normal circumstances, she would be saying something she couldn't imagine her life without him – he was that much a part of her life.

But… she couldn't forget that association with him had gotten her in this situation. Was he worth that, this, her arm?

Keiko glanced down, letting her eyes shy away to the room, crawling with bugs, ready to incite torture.

Was he worth this? Did he even care enough to come get her?

Keiko closed her eyes and hunched a bit more.

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Kurama leaned over a prone form in a deserted hallway, inwardly cursing. Hiei's body had stubbornly remained resistant to any poking and prodding he had performed. The man hadn't even twitched when he had dragged the body out of the shadows.

With a grunt he straightened up. He dug in a pocket quickly, bringing out his communicator. He flipped it open to look at Koenma's anxious face. "I've found him. He's outside the vault." He paused at the unspoken question. "Unconscious." He viciously snapped the communicator closed, trying to stop the rush of force that accompanied the action.

Their plan had backfired. Somehow, just like throughout this entire idiotic plan, they had overlooked a vital clue. Hiei was connected to Kagome. How stupid were they to think that sucking out her mind wouldn't affect his?

Kurama squatted next to Hiei as he waited for everyone else to arrive. He rubbed his hands over h is face tiredly. What the hell were they going to do now? They were certainly in a situation. A soul had never been removed without killing the body. His thoughts flittered to a very alive Kagome. He glanced down at Hiei as his chest rose and fell along with steady breathing. Okay. A soul had never been successfully returned to the host. He glanced down at Hiei once more. That one sure as hell better be false, too.

And what had happened to Kagome? Had her mind been removed?

Kurama finally just sat, leaning against the wall, as his ankles became sore. If they tried to put Hiei's mind back, and if hers had really been removed, would hers go back as well?

Could they risk giving her to Naraku? It wasn't like they had a lot of time to decide – he had given them a deadline of one day.

Kurama finally just gave up on thinking. He would wait for everyone else to come to him.

The first to come skidding down the hallway was Koenma. The man would know the fastest way to the vault. His eyes lit on Hiei as he skidded to a stop. Yusuke and Kuwabara were swift seconds.

"Well?" gasped out Yusuke, hunched over from running. Kurama shook his head.

"Shit."

Kuwabara looked around hopelessly. "What do we do?"

"I think, Kuwabara, that what can we do is a more appropriate question."

"And?"

Kurama directed his gaze towards Koenma. "You know the most about the process, Koenma. What do you think happened here?"

Koenma seemed to shrink slightly as all eyes turned towards him.

"Well…" he drawled out, "as far back as our records go, we have no successful attempt at reinstating a soul…"

Kurama practically wanted to choke the prince in front of him. "And just how far back do your records go, Koenma?" he ground out between clenched teeth.

Koenma looked down as he scuffed his toe along a line in the floor. "Oh… about 450 years or so."

"Christ, that's nothing in demon years, Koenma," snarled Yusuke.

Koenma's eyes brightened as he grew angry. "I think I know that better than you, Yusuke. We've researched the topic, okay! There have been other incidences where we have considered wiping the mind, the soul as it were, as punishment. We had to be sure we knew enough of the process to use it. We could find no one alive who could even remember the process being performed, let alone one that used it. As far as we know, no one knows shit, okay! We've questioned the older, more advanced demons, but they are all pretty much keeping their mouths shut. I'm sure they are lying, but as long as they can't perform it themselves, what does it matter?"

Kurama looked intently at Koenma. "Do you know of any that had an inkling of the process that we could talk to?"

Koenma miserably shook his head. "There were a few likely suspects that we considered at the time, but they've all died in the interim. There could be others, of course, but none that we suspected. It was rather a rare art during its height."

Kuwabara glanced up. "Have you actually used this on someone before?"

Koenma shifted once more. "Once. The demon died when we sucked out his mind. We were hoping that we could suck out his mind, examine it, get what we wanted, and then put it back. At the time, the device to look at his memories seemed like a futile effort. So, we sucked out his mind. Turns out that the mind is the soul. It makes sense, if you think about it, since memories really aren't a "function" of the brain. His body died without the soul, and despite all of our efforts, we couldn't put the two together. "

Yusuke took a step towards Koenma. "You mean to tell me we performed an experimental process on Kagome, which you were pretty sure she would just die of, when we needed her alive to trade for Keiko?"

Koenma took a step back. "Well, she seemed to be rather resistant to certain other things… certain things that made me think she might survive it being taken out. And, and her connection to Hiei might have kept her alive." He backed up another step while looking down the hallway for a nearby ogre.

Kurama jerked to his feet. "You deliberately put Hiei at jeopardy without even asking?"

"Well, he kept denying it, so I figured it might just work better if he knew nothing about it…" Koenma backed into the wall.

"We could have kept an eye on him, you idiot! Why didn't you bother to bring him close by so we could make sure we weren't doing anything to him?"

"I forgot, okay! I forgot about him while watching to see what would happen to Kagome!"

Yusuke threateningly raised his fist. "You know, Koenma, it's a good idea to keep the people on your side in the loop." He slammed his fist into the wall next to Koenma head. "A really good idea."

Yusuke suddenly jerked away turning. He ran his hands through his hair. "This has to be the stupidest plan ever. How could we have thought this would work? It's not like we didn't tell him what we were going to do anyways. Right to the damn spider!"

Kurama turned towards the ranting detective. "Why hasn't Naraku done something? Why didn't he try to stop us? Threaten to kill Keiko? Stop the trade? He knew. So why not do something about it?"

Everyone looked at him.

"Jesus, he hasn't raised a single objection," muttered Yusuke.

"He has to know," declared Kuwabara. "He has to."

"Which means," continued Kurama, "he's planning this. We are playing into his hand. Somehow, we are doing what he wants."

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	21. Chapter 21

_**Ultimatum**_

_Chapter 21_

_Boxing King_

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I give up, in a good way mind you, but I still give up. -_- Everyone just keeps pointing out all these successful attempts and whatnot where the soul was successfully removed and replaced in the shows, and so on. While I love getting stuff like this, since I use it to make my tale better, I think I am going to have to say pretend you don't know any of them. I haven't actually watched either show in a long, long time, so I forget all of this. Soooo, the rules I'm mentioning, such as a soul never being successfully reinstated or whatever, pretend they are real. :D K? :D Cause I give up on catching all the loopholes and putting them in the tale. I caught a nice number, but boy, you guys all remember everything! Not that that is a bad thing, it just means there are going to be inconsistencies. So, feel free and mention them, cause I love the feedback, and it helps the story from my point of view, just recognize that they probably won't be fixed in the story itself. Also, don't take this as criticism, just an f.y.i.. I love you all!!! And now to the next chapter. 

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Kurama frowned idly, nimbly flicking a pencil between his fingers as he sat next to Hiei's prone form.

Naraku knew what was going on. It was an obvious fact – they had said it all to the spider. For whatever reason had possessed them, they had assumed that he would still want to trade.

And he did. It had to mean something.

Through the years of solving intricate puzzles of any kind, Kurama had found that it was easiest if he laid the facts out. Time-honored tests rarely failed.

They had supposedly sucked out Kagome's mind. They might have sucked out Hiei's mind either in conjunction or in place of Kagome's mind.

Naraku knew it all, yet he still wanted to trade. He knew Kagome most likely had no mind, yet he still wanted her body. That meant one of either two things: the Jewel was in Kagome's body, or at least the secret to the Jewel was. Or, it meant that Naraku knew how to reinstate Kagome's mind.

Kurama threw the pencil at a nearby wall. They had to discount the first idea on the grounds that no one could sense the Jewel in her body, and Kagome had never said anything that might have led any of them to believe that the Jewel was indeed residing in her. They were screwed if that was in fact the location – there was no way Yusuke was going to renegade on the deal for Keiko now. In all honesty, Kurama just didn't think that was where the Jewel was. Sure, it could be, but his gut told him different. As a thief that sought treasures between all three realms, he had an inkling of an idea of where precious gems were often hidden. Granted, his head had been kind of absent throughout this entire debacle, but it was strongly leading him in a different direction. He decided to trust his gut.

Which left the second possibility: Naraku knew how to take out and reinstate minds.

It was entirely too plausible. The demon was significantly older than 450 years, and it was likely that Koenma and his team hadn't even interviewed Naraku when "researching" the project.

So, it had to be assumed that Naraku knew how to take out and put back someone's mind. Could he do it with Kagome? Was he expecting to get the bottle containing her mind with the bottle? Did the mind have to be near the body to be reinstated, or was keeping it in the safe not good enough?

Kurama thunked his head on the wall he was leaning against. Or did they even have Kagome's mind? It could very well be Hiei's mind in the bottle.

If that was the case, then was Kagome's mind simply dormant in her head? Was Naraku controlling some aspect of her mind and making it seem like she was soulless? The demon probably knew what the state looked like. If that was the case, then they did indeed have Hiei's mind.

Or, both of their minds could have been sucked out and put in the same bottle. Would the souls have mixed? If so, there was no way they would be able to give the bottle to Naraku.

Kurama thunked again. There were so many possibilities, and Naraku was such a sneaky bastard that all of them seemed possible.

His eyes snapped to the doorway when it slowly squeaked open. Kuwabara stood shadowed by the door. "Any change?" Kurama simply looked at the man. As if he wouldn't alert everyone to the slightest change in Hiei's condition.

"We didn't think so." Kuwabara fidgeted slightly. "So, we have an idea."

Kurama frowned. "No offense, Kuwabara, but why are you the one delivering this news?"

A weak grin flitted across Kuwabara's face. "Yusuke had to get work off some steam, so he's in the gym pounding all available ogres in sparring. Koenma thinks it would be best of he stayed clear of you for a while."

Kurama smirked slightly at that last bit. "You know, if Hiei is ever reinstated, he is going to kill Koenma."

Kuwabara snorted. "Oh, he knows. He's already making plans to take a mysterious vacation until Hiei cools down. He figures it would take at least a hundred years."

"So what's the plan?"

Kuwabara stepped farther into the room until he could comfortably sit next to Kurama.

"You probably aren't going to like. I thought it was pretty damn clever myself. All three of us were kind of brainstorming and it just popped out."

Kurama patiently waited for the rambling to finish. Kuwabara was prone to talking a lot when he got the chance, and today was no different. The only reason he was sitting through it was that he was Kurama's only contact with the team. And the man occasionally had decent ideas.

"We figure we sucked out both souls. And if not, and we only took out Hiei's, we perform the operation again on Kagome. If the bottle fills up, then we have her mind. If not, then we sucked both out at once." Kuwabara slanted his eyes at Hiei.

"And, Kuwabara?"

"We want to put a mind back in Kagome before we give her back to Naraku." Kurama's eyes grew angry. "But!" Kuwabara shouted, stopping the pending tirade, "it won't be Kagome's." His eyes widened in shock.

"You want to put Hiei's soul in Kagome's body?" he asked aghast, leaning forward.

"Yes."

"It won't work," he snarled. "Her body would reject his soul. Bodies are attuned to just one soul."

"Not when they are connected." Kurama fell back into the wall in shock.

"They have a connection already, a connection so deep that we suck out Hiei's mind instead of Kagome's, and their powers randomly switch between the two."

"It wouldn't work. Naraku would be able to sense that Kagome had suddenly been turned to a demon – the soul gives the essence that everyone senses. He would be able to tell."

"We actually thought of that objection, too. We mask his presence. All he has to do is pretend to be Kagome. Shorty can act in a life and death situation. And if he can't, we knock him out before handing him over."

"What the hell do you think to gain by putting Hiei's in that man's grasp?"

"Well, we keep the Jewel. That really is a top priority. But, more importantly, we get someone into the enemy's camp. Someone that can fight, someone that would be able to kill Naraku once he lets his guard down, someone that has a dragon sitting in his hand."

"You know," Kurama mumbled while thinking, "that's technically incorrect; it's not in his hand…"

He glanced up at Kuwabara sharply. "I've been thinking about all of this. Naraku accepted that we were going to give Kagome to him without a mind. He has to have a trick up his sleeve. I figured that he had to know how to transfer minds – take them in and out. If he does, and he figures out about Hiei, and we have Kagome's mind sitting all alone in a bottle, there is a possibility that he could just call it to her body. Her mind wouldn't be safe."

A goofy grin settled on Kuwabara's face. "We put her in Hiei's body. With her soul attached to a body he wouldn't be able to just call it."

"We can't give her access to the Jagan."

"Koenma is sure that he can put a temporary seal around the Jagan. While Hiei would be able to get around, Kagome doesn't have such fine control over her mind. Koenma is positive he can stop Kagome's access."

"The dragon might only function in conjunction with the Jagan."

"That is a risk that we shall have to take. It's not like we can't ask Hiei when we put his soul into Kagome. If he says no the whole idea, we suck out their souls again and give an empty body to Naraku."

Kurama frowned. "I can't think of any other objections."

Kuwabara grinned. "We did our best to think of everything, this time. Naraku shouldn't be able to access the Jewel, and Hiei will be able to kill the bastard. The only catch is the time limit. Naraku is going to contact us in hours. When he does, he'll be ready to trade. This has to be done by then. We also have to keep this completely between us – we can't afford another stupid link to Naraku. Ogres have been combing the palace for any type of bug, and we think that's the only one. They apparently got rid of the pests long ago in this realm, so the only reason that one was there was because we brought it in."

Kurama looked pensively down at Hiei. They had to figure out how to get his soul back in his body one way or another. If they managed to take out the enemy, all the better. He was almost one hundred percent sure that Hiei would agree with him.

"Let's do it. Let's switch their minds." Kuwabara nodded and stood.

"I'll call the others."

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Yusuke, Kurama, Kuwabara and Koenma were all clustered around two prone bodies. Koenma nervously connected Kagome to the machine once more. He started the process with a nervous glance at Kurama.

With a small click, the bottle began to fill.

The group collectively let loose a relieved sigh.

After a few moments, Koenma took out Kagome's new bottle and carefully connected her old bottle. He swallowed hard. If this didn't work, Kurama was going to kill him. His finger reached forward to push the reverse button. Oh god, Hiei was going to kill him if he woke up. He hesitated slightly before roughly pushing the button and scrambling to the back of the group.

The machine buzzed slightly. The entire thing began to shake as it tried to reverse its work. Finally, with a small click, it emptied the bottle.

Everyone leaned forward, anxiously watching Kagome's face.

With a shudder, her eyes snapped open. They swiftly glanced at each face before settling on Kurama.

"Fox, what the fuck is going on?"

Kurama gave a shaky smile before outright laughing.

"It's good to see you again, Hiei."

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	22. Chapter 22

_**Ultimatum**_

_Chapter 22_

_Boxing King_

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Hiei came to to the biggest headache he'd ever had. His entire head throbbed, and each noise seemed to jar it. Hell, each thought. He was betting light would do the trick, too. He tried to swallow, but found his throat too dry to follow through with the action. To compound his headache, his entire body was sore. He really had no frigging idea why, but damn if it didn't hurt. It would probably be best if he just lay there for a few moments.

He could hear vague noise, but nothing that would come through clear, not even mumbling – just muted sound. He couldn't really get his body to work. He couldn't even smell a damn thing. God, don't let him be immobilized on enemy grounds. Or hell, in enemy clutches. It felt like the most he would be able to do is flutter his eyes – not really helpful in any situation. He mentally frowned - flutter? He pushed that thought aside for later.

There wasn't a whole hell of a lot he could do here. He could _open_ his eyes, try and gain attention. Or, he could wait it out, see if he could ascertain just what was going on. If he waited, it would be to see if he could regain just a little bit more function back into his body.

He didn't really have all that long to deliberate, as his hearing came back.

He heard jack shit, just a few little clicks that sounded like they were coming from some machine. He frowned, and found that the muscles in his face were finally cooperating. He snapped his eyes open (no damn fluttering for him!), and tried to quickly scan his surroundings. He blinked once, before realizing that there really were faces surrounding him.

His eyes snapped to the face that to him appeared to be the most worried.

"Fox, what the fuck is going on?"

Kurama gave a shaky laugh. "It's good to see you again, Hiei."

Hiei tried to get an explanation out of the demon by glaring. It didn't seem to work too well as all he did was shake his head and grin even more stupidly.

"Fox, explain dammit." God, his voice sounded a little high there at the end. Hiei dismissed it as a dry throat.

"Okay, Hiei, okay." Kurama grinned once more down at his friend. "I'll explain everything. But, you have to promise to listen to the end."

"End? End of what?" He tried to growl his question. God, why the hell was his voice so high?

"First, I need to ask you a question. It is vitally important that I do so, and you need to answer without any hesitation. Alright?"

Hiei narrowed his eyes. There was trickery afoot, why the hell else would Kurama be asking some stupid question to obviously verify his identity? That or it was one of their code phrases he had come up with and made Kurama memorize once they started working for Koenma; they obviously hadn't been able to talk openly in front of people. "Fine. Ask."

"200 years ago when we were getting drunk that night in the Makai, how many hookers did we go through?"

Hiei snorted, "Six, and what kind of lame ass question is that to verify my identity. Christ, we've had more secretive things than that."

"Six, you went through six hookers in one night? Jesus Hiei." Yusuke was leaning over Hiei eagerly. "Just what did you do with each one?"

Kurama shoved Yusuke away. "Yusuke, that's obviously not our top priority."

Kuwabara eyed Hiei critically. "He knew what we were trying to do right away – should we be worried that that's Kagome? That she knew what we were trying to do?"

Kurama grinned. "No, Hiei's mind just works that way. He expects to be double-crossed all the time. That's also why I asked that question. If it was Kagome, I think she would have betrayed herself with some sort of a telling action. She probably would have blushed."

"Why the hell would you worry I was Kagome?"

Kurama couldn't help but grin a little bit more. "Cause you look like her."

Hiei's eyes widened as he ignored the whack somebody gave Kurama.

"That's your explanation," hissed Koenma. "Explain better!"

Hiei could feel his left eye beginning twitch. "And why do I look like her? Did you idiots give me something to make me look like her?"

"Nope," smirked Kurama.

"God," muttered Koenma, "We switched your souls. Your soul is in her body."

Hiei blinked once trying to absorb what Koenma had said. "What?" he ground out.

"Here's the thing, Hiei." For some obscure reason, Kurama was getting a kick out of this. Now that he knew Hiei was okay, the entire situation seemed slightly surreal and laughable. Not to mention he got to see his best friend completely flustered. It wasn't often that Hiei was off his game.

"We had cause to doubt the safety of the separation of Kagome's soul and body. It occurred to us, rather late in the game as it were, that Naraku probably had access to someone that could put Kagome's soul back. We weren't sure whether distance matter for the connection to occur, so we either had to put her soul back and give her, mind whole and functioning, to Naraku, or… we could put you in her place and get an insider on Naraku."

Hiei stared at Kurama. He couldn't have heard right. His hearing was out of whack, he had already ascertained that. "Please tell me you're joking," he kind of gasped out. God, he was feeling faint. He was hyperventilating, he couldn't get enough air.

He was shoved back onto the gurney, and four concerned faces were suddenly leaning over him. "Take it easy, Hiei. It's not permanent." Kurama's voice was rather faint.

"Permanent? Permanent!" Hiei leapt off the gurney snarling, breathing suddenly not an issue. "Put me back in my own fucking body this instant! How the hell do you know whether it's permanent or not? We have a fucking mind to mind connection, and you want to put me in his hold? How the hell do you know that's not what he was hoping for? For that matter, what happens when he removes my soul and keeps it? What the fuck then, you jackasses?" Hiei was steadily advancing on Kurama. "And you have no idea how our minds are going to react to that damn connection. For all you know, we could be stuck this way." He slammed Kurama against the wall, hand around his neck, eyes in slits. "Put. Me. Back."

Kurama glared back down at his friend, the humor gone. His icy voice rang out as strong as it could considering the vice around his neck. "I advise you to let me go, Hiei. You won't like the results if you don't."

"And it's not your body to mess with," Yusuke forcefully said. "Try not to abuse her body. Unlike you, she won't heal as nicely."

"Maybe, Yusuke, you should have thought of that before you all went through with this idiotic plan. Once again, you've screwed up."

"Us? Us, Hiei? You've been along for this ride the entire time. Hell, you were completely for it when it wasn't your mind. Don't both trying to go holier than thou on us just because you have a current crush." Kurama sneered down at his friend.

Hiei clenched his fingers tighter around Kurama's neck. "You didn't give a damn about Yusuke's cousin until it was your mind at risk. You're looking out for number one, just like you always have."

Hiei released his fingers – Kagome's fingers, and let Kurama drop.

"The only reason you care about her mind is because of that damn connection. You've never gone for a woman this much before. Or this stupidly. You're not that dumb, Hiei."

Hiei backed up, clenching his fists repeatedly. 

"So what, so what if I am looking out for me? That's the philosophy that has gripped us for centuries. It wasn't until you went into that weak human body that things began to change. I don't want to be stuck in this body. Neither would you, Fox. My senses are almost completely gone. I couldn't even choke you enough to stop conversation. What makes you think that I'll survive in this body over there? You got weaker, what makes you think that I won't?"

"We didn't really have another choice, Hiei. And as far as I can tell, you were 'weakening' before you went into that body." Kurama brushed himself off, straightening his collar. "Maybe, if we had given Kagome's shell to Naraku, he could have used the connection to suck out your mind and have access to your soul anyways. You weren't safe with the current plan. We needed to do something else anyways, and this was all we could come up with. We have a deadline, and it's shrinking as we speak. Decide now whether you want to stay in that body or whether you want to risk giving Naraku Kagome." His lips twisted violently. "All in the name of number one, of course."

Hiei glared at Kurama, before giving equal treatment to each team member. Yusuke wouldn't look him in the eye.

"How do you know this isn't his plan?" he finally quietly said.

"We don't. And normally that wouldn't bother you."

"Yeah, well, I'm in a human body. Unlike you, I haven't had twenty or so years to adjust."

"You worried about how she'll react about you using her body?"

"No," he snarled tightly. "I'm not. Her opinion in this doesn't matter. She has no opinion as a prisoner."

"Good. I'm glad you finally are looking at this with a clear eye, uninhibited by false emotions." Hiei couldn't completely hide his flinch at false.

"Fine, I'll do it." Kurama smiled slightly, his eyes staying cold.

"Now there's the Hiei I know and respect."

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Hiei sat brooding in a chair, counting down the minutes until he was to be traded for Keiko. They hadn't had any further contact with Naraku, at least since he'd been awake. He counted that a blessing. Facing Naraku in such a weak body was not high on his priority.

They had put a block around his mind, hopefully masking his presence. With luck, Naraku wouldn't notice it, or if he did he'd ignore thinking it was all Kagome.

Hiei snapped his eyes up to watch the scene swiftly unfolding before him. Koenma was trying to seal the Jagan while Kagome was less than conscious. They needed to immobilize any possible power she could access. They also needed to lock his body up. There was absolutely no way in hell he was going to allow her to fuck around with his body, literally or not. For all he knew, she had had penis envy for years and was about to have the time of her life while anyone that could stop her would be busy. The idea was sickening. Christ, she might even be happy at the switch; happy to have a demon's body and no longer have the duty of the Jewel. He knew he would – a better body with more freedom. He was definitely getting the short end of the stick here.

He watched Koenma further. The man was struggling putting up the seal. Clearly Koenma had been underestimating the amount of his abilities. On the one hand, he felt good about that – he was more powerful than anyone but Kurama had suspected. On the other hand, damn, now they all knew about it. He grunted, trying to sound just a little bit less female.

He clenched his fists, startling himself once more with how small his fingers were, how much less force there was in his grip. Everything he did reminded him that he was not at home, and it was a damn uncomfortable feeling. It would be a very bad thing if he needed anything more than surprise to kill Naraku.

Koenma finally cursed and walked away, bringing his hands up to brush away his hair. "Damn Hiei, just how long have you been harvesting power?"

Hiei gave him an affronted look. "What a stupid question. I've always been collecting power."

"Of course. What a stupid question," muttered Koenma, turning away. "I don't know if I can successfully bind this on my own. You've seriously gained some power."

Hiei frowned. Okay, yeah, he had been gaining power, but Koenma wasn't exactly weak himself. "Maybe you need to be binding more than just my body. You probably have to bind Kagome's soul as well. She has power, Koenma. She just doesn't use it well."

Koenma pursed his lips in thought. "I don't know if I can bind her then. I've got more practice binding demons. I don't think I even know of a situation where we've had to bind a miko before."

"We don't have time to work this out, Koenma," Hiei stated flatly. Kagome's voice had assimilated quite well to his typical tones. It was interesting to catch the looks everyone kept giving him when he forced this body to perform in such an atypical way.

"I know," Koenma practically shouted. "I know." He turned back to Hiei's body. "I guess I can only keep trying."

Hiei frowned. He wasn't going to be leaving his body here with her in charge and the Jagan wide open. Hell, she would easily be able to figure out how to persuade the ogres to let her out. That was child's play with the Jagan.

"Koenma?" he called out. Koenma turned in question. "Let's remove her soul. I don't want her in my body anymore."

"Hiei, we've discussed this in detail. We can't leave either soul unattended. It would give Naraku access to either one."

Hiei smirked. "Then let's not leave her soul stranded."

Koenma cautiously rose from his bent position over Kagome. "I don't think I know what you mean, Hiei."

"I think you do. I can see it in the way you're holding yourself right now. I want you to put her soul back in here with me."

"Two souls in one body?"

"Yes. We're connected, that much is obvious. We should be able to do this just fine. We've already been sharing dreams, this is simply an extension."

"You wouldn't be able to maintain control of her body! Her soul naturally goes in the position of power in her own body – it would go in the slot it is specifically engineered for."

"Actually, that's what I'm counting on."

"Ok, you've lost me."

"Do you honestly think that Naraku is going to be mislead by the masking my presence? He's too wily for that. That used to simply be our best bet."

"And now?"

"And now, we put Kagome back in here with me. He won't be expecting that. He'll be expecting one of us, either the soul he originally wanted or the one he can use to bargain for Kagome's. We let Kagome take control of the body. She'll be able to convince him that she's the only one here. I sit in the background. He sucks out her soul, probably to do what you wanted to and read it for the location of the Jewel. He'll think he's leaving an empty body, when in reality I'll be there, and I would have the element of surprise."

Koenma studied him for a moment. "It will work, Koenma, it has to."

"How do you know Kagome will go along with it?"

"This is her only chance at redemption, and I think at this point she knows it. She's being handed over to her worst enemy. If we can kill him here, the worst will be averted for her. It's a win-win situation for us."

Koenma stared him the eye, trying to read something Hiei couldn't fathom. "Alright, Hiei, we'll do it. Help me hook her up real quick. We don't have much time left."

Hiei let a victorious grin flicker across his face.

Within moments they had her hooked up, or rather his body. Koenma pushed the button without any hesitation, and once more that night the bottle filled. Koenma rolled Hiei's body's gurney away and situated Hiei.

"Are you ready, Hiei?" Hiei nodded once. "You'll have to tell her everything. You'll have to control her at first, make sure she'll go along." Again, Hiei nodded.

With a shakey finger Koenma pushed the button.

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The last thing Kagome could remember was the gut-wrenching pain as her mind was sucked away, then nothing. Awareness came back to her in trickles. At first, she was simply aware of being there. She was. Then, slowly she began to gain recognition of where she was. This place was intimately familiar to her at this point. She'd been there enough, and it was the last god-damn place she'd seen before supposedly kicking the bucket.

She was in a dream. Again.

God, it was a never-ending vicious cycle. She might just prefer being dead than the horrors enacted here.

She looked around, and with a thought she suddenly had a body with which to maneuver. She plopped herself down on the bed. God, what a nightmare.

She heard a snort. "You're telling me."

Kagome glanced up. "Hiei." She looked away and closed her eyes. "At this point I can't even dredge up any surprise. Or anything with which to care."

"No curiosity?" He sounded genuinely interested. Kagome mentally snorted.

"You don't believe my sincerity? I wouldn't either. In fact, I wouldn't have from the beginning. You've always been too trusting, Kagome."

She slanted her eyes up at him. "You sound somewhat civil, there, demon. How is it that we are finally communicating? Actually succeeding at communicating?"

"It's a long story."

"I have a feeling that it's a necessary story. Why are you acting so paternal?"

He looked a bit disgruntled at that. "I was going for persuasive."

"And you come out as a father? Geez, that says something about your psych."

"I know it does. I'm choosing to ignore it."

"Why are you here, Hiei? Didn't you escape and leave me all alone?"

"Yes, I did. But now I'm back." He tried to look her in the eyes, but she closed firmly, getting more comfortable in the pillows.

"Why would you ever want to come back here?"

"We're going through with our plan. We're giving your body to Naraku. And, instead of just giving him you and your soul, or even me in your body, we're going with the both of us at once.

"Your plan is to surprise him with two souls? Interesting." Naraku might not even be expecting that one.

She let her head roll listlessly in his direction. "That must be how you and I are getting along. You're in my head, therefore you hear what I'm thinking." He nodded shortly.

"Maybe I don't want to do this. Any of this."

"You have no choice."

"I know." She sighed before standing. The limited options were pretty obvious to her. "I think I liked the old Hiei better. The one that had spark and fire and no paternal instincts whatsoever."

He grunted. "Me, too." He studied her for a moment. "This place almost has a calm aura. This is your head, your body. Your mind has some control over it, so you're projecting it. How?"

"I think at this point I care for nothing, about nothing. It lends a certain apathetic attitude to things. It means I don't care, and you won't either. Without caring, we have no emotion."

He nodded. "Makes sense to me. But you can't stay here."

She glanced over at him. "You want me to resume control of my body? Face him alone?" He nodded once.

"Am I going to get anything out this?"

"You won't be left to his mercies, Kagome. And when he is gone, who knows? You may be allowed to leave."

"I don't think you mean that." Hell, she felt that he didn't mean it.

Hiei shrugged ambiguously. "It doesn't matter. It's your only real choice.

Talk about a rock and hard place. "Fine. Fine, then." She looked him in the eyes finally. "I'm off to face the dragon alone." And Hiei felt something, like a small shift, as Kagome disappeared. Subconsciously, he knew she had resumed control of her body.

He didn't really care. He didn't really care about anything as he carefully sat on the bed to consider the absolute terror that suddenly saturated Kagome's sanctuary. He carefully situated himself in the center of the bed. He'd dealt with terror before, and he could overcome it mentally with a little bit of work. As he began a slow pace of breathing in and out, he finished that thought: it was just a shock that Kagome could. That she even would, now or the many times before that she'd faced Naraku.

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	23. Chapter 23

_**Ultimatum**_

_Chapter 23_

_Boxing King_

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I would like to remind all of you that I have not seen the actual show in who knows how long, so the details that are wrong here, they are made up. K? I don't remember them, so they are made up for the purpose of this story, and if they are wrong, pretend they are right while reading this. K?  Thanks, as always, for reading!

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Kagome shuddered slightly as she opened her eyes. She glanced around an empty room before meeting Koenma's eyes. "Going about this without the other's knowledge, huh?"

He grimaced. Kagome suppressed a snort. "And why would you do that? Secrecy between your teammates will lead to problems. Hell, it already has." Kagome sat up and swung her legs over the side of the gurney.

"We didn't have time to consult them. You are due to be traded in about five minutes."

"I hope they like your excuse." Kagome ignored his muttered me too. The man seriously needed to overhaul his system of control in the Spirit World. But, that was an issue for another time.

"How do you know he still wants to trade?"

Koenma sighed briefly before looking at Kagome. "We haven't received any body parts." Kagome simply looked at him.

"You have always sucked at giving explanations. You know that, right?"

"He knows all of our plans up to a certain point. He knows we plan to either give back an empty shell or one with a soul that theoretically has the soul wiped clean of any memories. We know he still wants to trade by the fact that he hasn't sent any body parts, or even just the whole corpse, of Keiko yet. He would make his displeasure with our plans very clear, so the fact that he hasn't done anything obvious yet means that he doesn't care."

"You haven't figured out what he wants with a dysfunctional body yet?" He firmed his mouth into a tough line. "Of course not," she muttered, "you guys are always ignorant."

He scowled. She smiled briefly.

"Where's the trade off going to occur?"

"It has to be the bridge leading here. That is the furthest that Keiko will be able to get into this realm while still alive without some type of clearance."

"Who would need clearance? I thought anyone could just wander in here."

"Humans have trouble coming here while alive without either clearance or a raised spiritual awareness. We revoked her clearance. We also increased security to make sure Naraku just doesn't wander in, and to make sure she can't wander through due to some sort of association she picked up after constantly being around everyone."

"Smart of you."

"Yes, well, concerning just about everything else besides you, we tend to be smart. Somehow, around you we are stupefied."

"Glad I don't have that affect on everyone."

"Let's head on over to the bridge, then."

Koenma hesitated. "Do you want me to try and act like Hiei?"

"Well, it would make things a little bit easier…"

"To bad, I'm not going to be party to your actions. Suck it up and be held accountable." She stood and began walking towards the door.

"I should have figured that one. What about for Naraku? Deferring to your experience with him, would he react better to a pretend Hiei or you?"

Kagome hesitated before responding, actually thinking over the best answer. "I think it might be best to pretend that my mind is swipped. He's expecting either Hiei or a brainless me. I don't think I can pull Hiei off, and he might let his guard down around me."

Koenma nodded while following her. He grabbed her upper arm before letting her go through the door. He stared hard at her while talking. "I know we've been unorthodox in winning you over, Kagome, but don't let us down. Naraku getting this Jewel would be the worst possible thing for everyone, including you. Put the fate of the world above your hate for us."

She regarded him coolly. "Clearly you haven't put the fate of the world above everything else. Why should I?"

His fingers tightened. "Think along the lines of what would happen to your family and friends if he won and got that Jewel." He shook her slightly. "They wouldn't die quickly, Kagome."

She jerked her arm out of his grasp. "I think I know that much better than you, Koenma. Now stop manhandling me."

"Fine," he took a step back and raised his hands in the air. She took a step forward. "I need to know your intentions, Kagome, before I let you walk out that door."

She whirled around viciously. "_I'll_ protect the Jewel, just like I always have. _I'll_ be the one that suffers through this to keep that wretched piece of stone out of his grasp, just like I have before. You don't need to worry that the _Protector_ of the Jewel will let it down. And besides, your pet demon in my body will be sure to follow through with your will. Now stop trying to act noble now, at the last goddamn second, and let me walk through that door in the dragon's mouth!" She snarled the last phrase and quickly turned and barreled out of the room.

Koenma watched her retreat for a moment before following. While she might profess ultimate duty towards the Jewel, she had already failed once with her suicide attempt. He could only hope she wouldn't repeat that failure.

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Kurama's eyes narrowed as Kagome's body walked furiously out of the castle towards the bridge. He watched her stride as she tried to calm down. Hiei would be better at controlling his emotions, even under the influence of new hormones. His gaze swiveled to Koenma swiftly on her heels.

"What have you done?"

"What do you think he's done? It's obvious, and if you're as smart as everyone says, you can figure it out." Kagome stormed past the red-headed demon, Yusuke and Kuwabara.

Damn Koenma for questioning her will to protect the damn Jewel. For all he knew, the best way to protect it was for her to die. Then, the duty of protecting the Shikon would fall to the next reincarnation, who would be clueless as to it and its location. Of course, she had to hope that Naraku couldn't manipulate her soul after she died to get the info. If she was going to die and pass the buck, it needed to be in seclusion where her death would go unnoticed so that her spirit could safely transition on to the next realm (or body, as it were). Which meant she couldn't purposefully die while in Naraku's clutches.

She felt a sharp twing in her head. Another damn, Hiei was hearing every word she thought. Well, it's not like you would care if I did commit suicide, now would you? She got another twing. She had no idea how to interpret it, so decided a no was safest, and most likely.

She reached the end of the bridge and turned with her hands on her hips. "Well? You dragged me all the way out here, at least be timely."

Koenma cleared his throat under the scrutiny of Kurama. "We put her mind back in it and sort of wiped it?" He couldn't help but let the end of the sentence come out as a question.

"Try again," came the Fox's stony reply.

"Fine," he muttered. Kuwabara crept closer to catch all of the conversation as Yusuke stared dubiously at Kagome. "We put both her and Hiei's soul in her body. We figured that Naraku wouldn't be expecting that, at least."

"You put Hiei's soul at risk again!" Kurama whispered furiously.

"No risk that he didn't want to take," snapped Kurama.

"Is she supposed to be acting like that?" Kuwabara asked.

"She's supposed to be pretending her mind is wiped. I have no idea how she figures that's a wiped mind." Koenma glared at the verbosely irritated Kagome.

"She's going to ruin the entire thing!"

Kurama felt a slight push on his shoulder. "I am not," Kagome snarled at him. "The story is that you reverted my mind back to before I knew of the Jewel. I am currently an irritated high school student who has been fed some bull-shit story by people she doesn't trust. Trust me when I say I know how to act the part. Now what's the deal with him being a no-show?"

Every spine in the circle minutely stiffened as a malicious laugh the area after a small pop concussed through the air.

"My dear Kagome, I would have thought that you would be a bit more fearful of my arrival."

Kagome turned around quickly. "I don't even know who you are," she managed to get out in a voice that quavered. Her eyes landed on a much familiar baboon clad form.

"And what is with that ridiculous fur outfit? Really, you shouldn't harm animals just for an ugly coat."

Kagome could practically feel the consideration coming off Naraku as he tried to figure out what her game was.

"We don't have time for this dribble," snapped Yusuke. Kagome resisted the urge to turn and look at him.

"My cousin's right. Apparently there's a life at stake here, baboon-man. Where's his girlfriend?"

"I figured that you idiots would try and pull some stunt if I brought the human along with me. I figured the two other humans would try and attack and win back my prize. So," he smirked, "I left her a bit of a ways away. Once I get her," he shifted focus to stare directly at Kagome, "I'll tell you where."

"What's your guarantee?" snapped Yusuke.

"There isn't one, and you don't really have a choice, Cousin. This is the only chance you will have for a trade. If I don't get her, then I'll rid myself of the nuisance the human hostage has become."

Kagome flicked her eyes nervously between Yusuke and Naraku. "Wait a minute, now. What's this about a trade? You told me I just needed to distract him so that you all could attack and win the day." Kagome let her panic filter through her voice.

"Go ahead, take her," Yusuke stated without inflection. "We won't stop you."

Naraku smirked victoriously as Kagome cried out in shock. "What the hell, Yusuke?"

Naraku leaped forward and roughly grabbed her forearm just as Yusuke grabbed her wrist. "The location, Naraku."

"Go back to where it all began, Yusuke. I advise you to hurry. She might bleed to death before you get there." With that knowledge, Yusuke let go.

Naraku disappeared in the same way he came with a struggling Kagome in his grasp, eyes wide as she reached out to Yusuke.

The sudden silence on the bridge was deafening. "You didn't even care that you were letting her go, did you, Yusuke?" Kuwabara was looking at Yusuke was a strange look in his eyes. "She may have been acting, but there was real fear there, and you just let her go."

Yusuke turned around, ignoring Kuwabara. "Koenma, I need a portal to the school. That was the beginning of Keiko's involvement and where she went missing. That has to be it." He turned towards Kurama, already assuming Koenma's aid. "I need you to come with. You know enough about healing to make sure she can get to a hospital." There was a frantic energy to Yusuke just then, as his goal was so close to being met.

Kurama nodded. "Of course I'll go help Keiko."

Koenma quickly moved up to Yusuke and opened a portal. Yusuke and Kurama wasted no time in jumping through, eager to go save a life.

Koenma closed the portal firmly before turning to look at Kuwabara. "He had his priorities, Kuwabara. He had to make a choice, and he did."

The man turned towards Koenma. "But he didn't regret it at all. He didn't regret throwing her life away." Kuwabara's face contained a bewildered expression. "He should have at least cared, Koenma."

"He wouldn't have been able to go through with it if he had cared, Kuwabara. He had to abandon his emotions for Kagome."

"No, no he didn't." Kuwabara turned slowly towards the castle. "He broke a code there, Koenma. And he shouldn't have done that."

Koenma watched Kuwabara slowly walk inside. He had a feeling that Kuwabara wouldn't be able to forgive Yusuke for that breach. It seemed like their actions were finally sinking in for the last teammate.

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Yes, it's short. But it's an update! I figure that has to make up for some of the shortness, right? Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Review, review, review!! ~BK


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